Red Hot Tooth wins at Menangle with Zac Phillips in the gig. Photo by Ashlea Brennan - ashleabrennanphotography.com
If you haven’t inked Red Hot Tooth into your black book as an out and out star, you’re overdue.
The explosive Victorian torched her rivals in yesterday’s Group 2 at Menangle, gun reinsman Zac Phillips expertly guiding his favourite trotting mare through the mile.
This day is always a cavalcade of stars, with beautifully bred pacers glistening in the winter sun as the trots focus heads to Menangle for the Alabar sponsored Breeders Challenge finals.
But amid the precocious pacers the Victorian trotter landed every punch she threw in the $30,000 Group 2 Majestic Son Four and Five-Year-Old Final.
Immediately off the arm Red Hot Tooth grabbed the advantage, the four-year-old mare shimmying straight to the pegs in front.
Once she’s got open space ahead, this Kari Males-trained daughter of Yankee Paco seldom relents. And so it was here, Red Hot Tooth navigating the mile trip in 1min 57secs, eclipsing her previous best mark at Menangle set exactly 12 months ago in the Breeders Final by three-tenths of a second.
“Paul and Kari (Males) have done such a great job in managing her and looking after her. I think they’re reaping the rewards of their patience with her through her three-year-old year and not over-racing her. I think she’s going to turn into a great Grand Circuit horse,” Phillips said.
Yesterday’s runner-up, Glenferrie Burn, hailed from the stables of Anton Golino. Interestingly Phillips would also deliver victory for the Cardigan trainer yesterday but not in Sydney.
The 21-year-old reinsman boarded a plane bound for Tullamarine shortly after his feature race win. Upon touching down Phillips headed to Melton where he was booked for five drives, and he won the last race there aboard a Golino-trained first-starter, Continentallady. Talk about a pro.
Phillips and Red Hot Tooth have now combined for 11 wins.
Red Hot Tooth is the youngest mare on the Australian national top 20 trotters’ chart.
Media enquiries to:
Cody Winnell (HRV Media/Communications Manager)
t: 03 8378 0288 | e: cwinnell@hrv.org.au | tw: @codywinnell
