John Caldow and Vulcan cruise to a comfortable Dullard Trotters Cup win
John Caldow can thank champion Kiwi reinsman Anthony Butt for his maiden Grand Circuit success after teaming with Kiwi squaregaiter Vulcan to claim Friday night’s V.L. Dullard Trotters Cup (2240m) at Melton’s Tabcorp Park.
Butt is the regular driver for the five-year-old, who is trained by his brother Tim, but being in Perth for the first round of Inter Dominion Pacing Championship heats meant a replacement driver was required for the $50,000 Group 1.
Caldow was given the nod and the Melton reinsman responded with a confident drive to get the son of Earl home.
Almost 30 of the 3200-plus winners that the 43-year-old has driven have come in Group 1s, but none have been at the highest level.
Few of Caldow’s feature wins, which include a Chariots Of Fire, four Breeders Crown titles and numerous Oaks, have been have been as painless as Vulcan’s Dullard Cup success, which came the start after beating home all bar I Can Doosit in the Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Final.
The $1.70 favourite wasn’t urged early, but when expected leader and $5.50 second favourite The Fiery Ginga galloped out of contention at the start the race changed complexion and Caldow took the opportunity take the gelding around the field and found the front at the 1600m.
From there, Caldow was able to dictate terms. He travelled through the first half of the last mile in 62.5 seconds before ramping things up from the 800m.
He got his rivals off the bit with a 28.6secs third split, while his ability to follow that up with a 28.4secs final section carried him to an 8.3m win over Stylish Monarch ($9.80) with Miss Warbucks ($36) a further five metres back third. The mile rate was 1:57.5.
The victory was Vulcan’s third Grand Circuit win of 2011/12, following earlier wins in the NZ Trotting FFA and the Dominion Trot, and saw him shoot seven points clear after eight legs of the 11-race series that offers points on a 5-2-1 basis to the first three over the line in each event.
The V.L Dullard Cup headlined a cracking Tabcorp Park card that also saw a trio of pacing features.
Former Kiwi gelding Mr Nickel picked the $25,000 Caduceus Club Cup to rediscover his best form, bouncing back from an unplaced effort in the Alabar Victoria Derby to snare the 2240m event.
The son of Village Jasper, who won last year’s Group 1 Australian Pacing Gold 2YO colts and geldings final when trained by Mark Purdon, pulled out a strong performance for new trainer Dean Braun to deny $1.40 favourite Charlie Machsheen.
Mr Nickel worked to the front a lap and a half from home, peeled off a 61.6-second first half of the last mile and after a 29.4secs third split was able to power home the last quarter in a slick 27.1secs for a 3.3m win over Charlie Machsheen in a 1:57.5 mile rate.
Mr Nickel’s win was the first leg of a feature double for Lara-based Braun, who later combined with champion reinsman Chris Alford to win the $20,000 VHRSC Metropolitan Cup Final for the M0s with Yankee Dream.
The night’s remaining feature was the $20,000 Glenferrie Farms Sapling Stakes (1720m) for colts and geldings, which saw Keayang Starzzz make it back-to-back features.
Thirteen days after winning the Premiere Stakes on Hunter Cup night, the son of Four Starzzz Shark produced a dominant performance to get home by five metres from Major Lloyd in a 1:57.7 mile rate.