Hectorjayjay cruises home tonight with a blistering City of Melton Plate win for Gavin Lang.
Lenny or Hector? Or both? David Aiken certainly is the latter.
But the intra-stable battle between Lennytheshark and Hectorjayjay should add stacks of spice to the 2016-17 Summer of Glory carnival and Perth Inter Dominion. And fans will take sides.
Both Aiken-trained stars will be headline acts all season long. While reigning Inter Dom champ Lennytheshark deserves top billing for now, Hector fans are undoubtedly growing in bullishness. When Hectorjayjay scorched past Lennytheshark in the Len Smith Mile (1:50.5) during June a rivalry was born.
Tonight at Tabcorp Park Melton Hectorjayjay (Dream Away-Sheer Finesse) added the City of Melton Plate to his owners’ trophy cabinet. And he did it with plenty of panache. Reinsman Gavin Lang hit the go button off the arm at the 1720-metre start and Hectorjayjay ripped across the face of the field to find the pegs first.
Unlike last start when Hectorjayjay had to arc the field before getting upstaged by an unlikely vanquisher in All Eyes On Us, Lang and Hectorjayjay put the issue beyond doubt early tonight. With Maximan sitting outside him and Five Star Anvil in the trail, Hectorjayjay posted a 6.7secs lead time followed by first and second quarters of 29 and 29.9. His third quarter was 27.2 and his fourth 26.6 – the 53.8secs final looked half a powerful statement. His 1:51.7 mile rate exquisite.
In 2015-16 Hectorjayjay won eight races from 17 starts for $279k. He’s launched 16-17 on the right hoof.
Five Star Anvil and Stunning Grin filled the Plate minor placings.
Chris Alford took driving honours tonight with three winners, while Gavin Lang picked up a winning double in the gig and Aiken won two races as trainer.
Kyvalley Blur (Chocolatier-Duo Val Car) notched a strong win in the City of Melton Scotch Notch Memorial for Brent Lilley and Nathan Jack, scoring by 2.1m over The Boss Man (Ellen Tormey), who looks to have taken the next step, and Maori Time in third for Anthony Butt.
In the Battle of the Claimers heats trainers Marnie Bibby, Cheyenne King-Davies and Luke Bryant all tasted success with Ubringthedrinks (Panorama-Sorrento Star) (David Moran), Four Needed (Real Desire-For The Don) (Alex Ashwood) and Kenny Trickem (Stonebridge Regal-Alexina) respectively.
Larry Eastman had five-year-old Morton Plains (Bettors Delight-Dont Answer That) back to her best with a 1:56 run in the DNR Logistics Pace to beat Michael Stanley-trained pair Soho Tokyo and Soho Berlin, while Lightning Calder (Ganymede-Miss Calder) prevailed for trainer/driver Craig Demmler in the Aldebaran Park Trot, Upanatom (Christian Cullen-Atom Queen) went 1:53.2 to win the Middy’s Industrial Laverton Pace, and talented five-year-old Mister Wickham (Julius Caesar-Bronte Jones) overcame barrier 11 to win the TAB.com.au Pace for trainer Lee Evison.
Media enquiries:
Cody Winnell (HRV Media/Communications Manager)
t: 03 8378 0288 | e: cwinnell@hrv.org.au | tw: @codywinnell
