The barrier draw for Saturday night’s Group 1 Bill Collins Trotters Mile at Moonee Valley has thrown up more questions than answers.
Held in conjunction with today’s official launch of the SEW-Eurodrive Victoria Cup Carnival at the Sanctuary Lakes Golf Club, the draw was none too kind to the favoured runners, thus guaranteeing an enthralling spectacle in the $50,000 feature.
Glamour girl Sumthingaboutmaori, rising superstar A Touch Of Flair, and visiting New Zealand flying machine Allegro Agitato have all drawn the second line, whilst her highly rated stablemate Jasmyns Gift must overcome an awkward gate seven.
Defending titleholder Sammy Do Good (pictured) has fared best of the big names despite drawing wide in gate six and as a result is tipped to start favourite for the all-conquering father-and-daughter combination of Peter and Kerryn Manning.
New Zealand-trained horses have won eight of the 10 Miles contested thus far and the unheralded Glenbogle now looms as a key player amongst the trio of Kiwi raiders after drawing to utilise his brilliant gate speed in five.
The sentimental favourite will be underrated local Illawong Ian who has placed in the past two Bill Collins Miles at odds of $56 and $66 respectively and will once again be sent out at big odds for veteran duo Bob Kuchenmeister and Brian Gath.
The field for the $50,000 Bill Collins Mile (1609m), to be run at 9pm on Saturday, is;
| 1 |
| CODE OF HONOUR | M.CALAZ | JODI QUINLAN | | FT |
| 2 |
| CLARES BROTHER | R.MAHNCKE | BRENDAN MAHNCKE | | FT |
| 3 |
| CLASSIC COMMENT (NSW) | G.FORREST | RUSSELL JACK |
| FT |
| 4 |
| UNCLE PETRIKA | L.JUSTICE | LANCE JUSTICE | (1EM) | FT |
| 5 |
| GLENBOGLE (NZ) | K.FAIRBAIRN | CHRIS ALFORD | | FT |
| 6 |
| SAMMY DO GOOD | P.MANNING | KERRYN MANNING | | FT |
| 7 |
| JASMYNS GIFT (NZ) | P.WILLIAMSON | PHIL WILLIAMSON | | FT |
| ------------------------------------------------------ | Second Row ------------------------------------------------- | |
| 8 |
| SUMTHINGABOUTMAORI | B.HEALY | GAVIN LANG | | FT |
| 9 |
| A TOUCH OF FLAIR | R.THOMSON | RUSSELL THOMSON | | FT |
| 10 |
| ILLAWONG IAN | R.KUCHENMEISTER | BRIAN GATH | | FT |
| 11 |
| ALLEGRO AGITATO (NZ) | P.WILLIAMSON | RICKY MAY | | FT |
| | | | | | | |
The Bill Collins Trotters Mile headlines a bumper 10 race program on night one of the SEW-Eurodrive Victoria Cup Carnival which kicks off at 6.30pm.
