Valedictorian Definitely Was Top of the Class
The owners and connections of Valedictorian after his win. Photo Credit- Hamilton Content Creators.
Harness The Dream winners Kristen and Tony Barnard didn’t have to wait long for their first taste of success, with Valedictorian making it one from one in Tuesday nights Sales Classic heats at Gloucester Park.
“We just can’t believe it, wasn’t expecting it at all,”
“I went and gave him a cuddle before the race and I just love him, he’s an absolute sweetheart.” Kristen Barnard said.
Owned by TrotSynd #20 syndicate, the two-year-old lined up from barrier nine in race one, and after showing good gate speed at release point, Gary Hall Jnr worked the gelding forward early to settle in the breeze throughout, going on to win impressively by four metres. Boyanup based trainer Justin Prentice has confirmed that Valedictorian has pulled up well considering the heat and expects improvement and fitness from the run. The first of the heats over the 1730m recorded a mile rate of 1:56:7.
“There could be shares available, but they’ve gone up.” Rob Gartrell joked after the race.
The first of the fillies’ heats went the way of Temukas Girl who has finished third at her previous two starts. The double Westbred filly found the front with over a lap and a half to go and that’s where she stayed, managing to kick away by 5.7m in a time of 1:56:3 for trainer Mike Reed and reinsman Shannon Suvaljko.
Juggernaut came out on top in heat two for the colts and geldings, claiming the win at his first start for trainer Kat Warwick, and brought up Gary Hall Jnr’s second leg of his winning treble on the night. The short-priced favourite led all the way from barrier one and proved too good for his rivals, taking top prize in race three on the card in 1:59:3.
Aiden De Campo wasn’t keen on the draw for his filly Between Two Thorns but she overcame it and took out the final heat for the fillies, heat two in race four. With Dylan Egerton-Green in the cart, they were able to work forward from release point, finding the front and claiming the win by 3.2m in a mile rate of 1:58:1, another winner on the night at her debut run.
Dylan Egerton-Green continued his winning ways with a race to race double going into the final heat of the Sales Classic, and heat number three for the boys with his runner Rocket City. Trained and driven by Egerton-Green, the two-year-old made it two from two and rewarded favourite punters with $1.80 odds in a mile rate of 1:57:1, with a winning margin of 13.5m.
“He pulled up great from the run and should hopefully further improve next start.” Egerton-Green said.
In the five heats, 15 horses were bred/presented at last years APG Yearling sales by KTC Bloodstock and 10 of those runners have made it through to the Group 1 $100,000 Sales Classic Finals next Friday, 25th of February.
The 2022 APG Yearling Sale comes up on February 27 starting at 1pm, with the Magic Millions venue housing the sales again this year. This Sunday the 20th of February, three studs will open their doors for the pre-sale yearling tour, with Karnup racing opening their gates for a 2.15pm parade of their 10 yearlings on offer, Copper Lodge at 3pm with 10 yearlings, and then on to KTC Bloodstock for their yearling parade, with 20 yearlings on offer from the Charles family this year, they have continued with their tradition and will be offering a BBQ dinner and drinks after the parade.
Ashleigh Paikos