Lilac Flash primed for return after 12 months out

By Andrew Adermann

Lilac Flash will tomorrow night return to Albion Park after a 12-month lay-off following a spate of injuries and bad luck.

The six-year-old had initially suffered a foot injury mid-last year, and once recovered picked up a virus.

He was ready to return to the track before an accident at home where he cut his foot on a fence set him back further.

Tomorrow night in the 11^th and final event of the night, he will make a return to Albion Park for the first time since June 22, 2019 and trainer Darren Weeks could not be any happier with the pacer’s recovery.

“He never really had a major injury, he just had a few small things that went wrong that eventuated to a long time out,” Weeks said.

“He had a foot issue first off, and then we got him back and got a bit of a virus so that meant more time out and then we had him ready to race again before he rolled into a fence and cut his leg.

“He’s really fit and well at the minute, obviously it will take a couple of runs to get back somewhere near his peak but he’s in a good place at the moment.

“His work is good and he’s feeling good so we’re really happy with him.”

The Bettor’s Delight gelding has amassed a formidable record in his 57-start career, notching up 20 wins and 21 minor placings for $165,000 in stakes.

Despite his incredible strike rate, Weeks isn’t expecting a well-oiled run first-up, instead just looking for positive run from his gelding.

“We’d be happy just to see him running on tomorrow night and just run a good race – we haven’t got any huge expectations of him first up but as long as he runs a good race we’ll be more than happy,” Weeks said.

 “We know that he’ll improve on that.

“He’s a pretty smart horse, last campaign he went to Victoria and broke 1:52 down there, and went on to run three sub-1:52 miles in two different states in a fortnight.”

Lilac Flash faces no mean feat first-up, tackling the reigning Queensland Horse-of-the-Year, Colt Thirty One as well as stable mate Major Cam.

“Colt Thirty One is setting the benchmark in Queensland, he’s obviously the one to beat and is the most versatile horse at the moment,” Weeks said.

“Especially with the draw on Saturday night, he’s got the draw in his favour so he’s definitely the one to beat.”

Elsewhere on the card, another Weeks-trained star in Speech Is Silver will be gunning for a seventh straight win in the ninth race of the evening, where he has been installed a $1.40 favourite.

Queensland’s latest pacing star has notched up 13 wins from 17 starts, and is showing no signs of slowing down as a campaign towards tackling the best Open Class horses in the state beckons.

“We think he’ll go really well Saturday night, his work is probably better than it’s ever been,” Weeks said.

“He’s got a good draw we feel, so we’re expecting a positive result.

“His goal is to be racing in free-for-all races later in the year so we’ll start him in some of the upcoming feature races and just see how he goes.”