EXCITING freshman Lumineer has drawn ideally in his bid to maintain his perfect record at Tabcorp Park Menangle on Saturday night.
Unbeaten from three starts, the Victorian raider will begin from the pole in the opening Ladbrokes Australian Pacing Gold semi-final.
The son of Sportswriter was ultra-impressive during his latest outing – an Australian Pacing Gold heat at Melton – which has seen the Ange McDowall-trained colt installed a $1.80 favourite for the second round.
In his qualifier, Lumineer raced in the ‘death seat’ before being angled into the passing lane to score in a brilliant 1:53.8 over 1720 metres…four second faster than the remaining two heats winners.
Pleased with the two-year-old’s draw, McDowall believes Lumineer will require his share of luck against quality opposition.
“It’s a nice draw, but he will need luck from there,” McDowall said. “He is going up against some pretty nice horses, so it’s going to be harder again this week.
“He has trained on well since his run in the heat and doing all the right things…so far so good
“His run in the heat has definitely sharpened him up and he will be better for the run.”
New Zealand visitor Sicario is also looking to maintain his undefeated status in the second semi, where he has drawn seven.
A $120,000 sales topper at last year’s New South Wales Ladbrokes APG Sale, the Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen-trained son of Somebeachsomewhere won his heat in 1:53.8 over a mile.
“He’s a pretty nice horse,” Purdon said. “He’s done everything we’ve asked of him with ease and he’s still on the way up.
“It was a nice run in his heat as he was never fully extended. He will definitely be better for the run and will improve again for the semi-finals.”
