Sequana sends a statement to winter rivals

By Isaac Murphy

Six Easter Trophy heats for the Fifth Graders dominated last night’s Albion Park Card, and it was Selena Zammit’s Sequana who stole the show.

The prolific Albion Park winner was returning to the track, and claimed a huge scalp in All Hands Off who has dominated Best 8 company over the last month.

Mick Zammit said during the week, while Sequana was well and truly wound up for the assignment, he didn’t expect to catch the flying All Hands Off, but when she was squeezed at the first turn, Sequana pounced.

“It was some sort of effort; she only came away with them and was forced four wide on the turn, but she only knows one way and that was to keep coming and found herself in a great spot outside the leader,” Mick Zammit said.

“We had All Hands Off boxed in on the rail and once we got in front of her, I’ve never seen her run down – a really pleasing result having her first 500 in five months.

“The toughest part about training her has been keeping her sound, we’ll stick to the sprint for now but once she gets some more starts in her I think she’ll be back up to the 600 and would love to try the 700 someday.”

Brett Bags an Emotional Easter Double

A double is not a rarity for Tony Brett on a Thursday night but the wins of Enthusiastic and Orchestrate carried far more weight than usual, Brett's last two winners before the passing of his wife Fleur's dad Ian, who lost his battle to cancer at age 91 Saturday morning.

An avid supporter of everything team Brett, the trainer said his step-father loved a winner as much as he did right down to his last days.

"He's never had Sky Racing, so whenever we go and see him the day after a race the first question out of his mouth is how did the dogs go?" Brett said.

"He could have passed away anytime in the last couple of weeks but it was a real blessing we got to race Thursday and when we were all able to see him Friday and tell him about the night you could tell he was smiling."

"We had the whole family there with him and while these things are never easy, but it was a nice moment for everyone to share."

After some much needed familt time it'll be back to racing for Brett who unsurprisingly is starting to come into form with the Winter Carnival approaching, the leading trainer picking up an Easter Trophy double and was more than pleased with his other two starters.

“It was a really positive night out; both winners (Enthusiastic and Orchestrate) went awesome, but I thought Messy Man did a lot wrong to still run third and What A Debacle got a key 500 under his belt,” Brett said.

Enthusiastic looked a prospect when he careered away, winning his Novice a fortnight ago and didn’t blink when taking on the fancied Brother Jason in his heat, running the time of the night.

“When he won a couple of weeks ago, I was hoping that would be a real turning point and on last night it looks that way,” Brett said.

“I knew in time he’d be a 29.8 dog over the trip, but I probably didn’t expect him to go 29.83 so soon, but to see him come out nice and run 11.41 down the back caught my eye.

“I was standing next to Darren Russell when Brother Jason got second in the run behind us and I said, ‘I might be in some trouble here’ but it was the pattern of the night, the dogs returning from interstate weren’t quite at their best but even if he was it would’ve been a tight contest.”

Orchestrate had to wait until the final heat, but kept his winning run going; the dog is now six from seven since returning from a spell in February, and Brett is still not sure where his ceiling is.

“I’ve got a good feeling about Orchestrate; everything I throw at him he seems to handle, and he was brilliant holding the rail and skipping away in a tough race last night,” he said.

“I thought he might go a bit quicker than 30.08, just because he’s been improving every run, but with a bit of drizzle on the track there’s nothing wrong with that time running your second ever 500.

“Like Enthusiastic, he’s one that started off in the Dave Brett, went to Lismore and had his struggles, but they’ve both come good and I’m rapt to have two in the Easter Trophy Final.”

Siblings can’t be split

Pam Field’s brother and sister duo Hard Marker and More Than Magic are constant threats on Thursday nights and they both were in the money last night winning their Easter Trophy heat and Third/Fourth Grade respectively.

“Hard Marker’s problem is he’s very slow early, but as long as there’s not a tearaway leader he’s going to be in this race because he can run home in 12.56 like he did last night,” Field said.

“He’s a really big dog up around 38 kilos, we’re in the process of trying to just bring his weight down a bit and think that may help him stay a little closer at the start.

“With his box manners and the wide draw, I didn’t give him much of a hope last night, but he eventually found the rail and the 30.32 run is just about him at the moment, we’ll need an inside box for the Final but I’m just happy to be there.”

More Than Magic is now a 12-time winner after her triumph but is in for some tough racing reaching top company.

“More Than Magic is definitely the pick of the two, they’re both great chasers but she can run the time to keep up with those good dogs more consistently,” Field said.

“That was a trademark win last night, she loves to sit just behind the speed and like her brother can really explode late.

“I knew she was going well but it’s another race I didn’t expect her to win, I see her as a genuine fifth grader, and she was able to beat the third and fourth grade dogs and is now up to second grade.”

Field boasts a remarkable winning strike rate for a boutique kennel, and celebrations have been coming thick and fast the last few weeks.

“I’ve only got three in work - Hard Marker, More than Magic and Misty Haze - and I’m very blessed to have two of them win on one Thursday night card and Misty Haze was a winner a fortnight ago over the 600 metres,” she said.

“We bought Hard Marker and More than Magic as pups off Errol Kleinhans; they’re out of Fabregas and Magic Maiden and have won around $75,000 between them.

“We got Misty Haze off Brett Hazelgrove and she’s topped $50,000 - we’ve been blessed.

“I like to keep everything nice and small as we’re winding down a bit, hopefully this lot have another year of racing in them and we’ve invested in a couple of young pups who’ll hopefully keep us going for the next few years.”

Third trainer double of the evening

Northern Rivers trainer John Dart was another to pick up a double on the night, with Rumbling Away kicking things off.

“I knew she was going well enough to win her Novice, she made up lengths in the run home last week and was beaten by Enthusiastic the week before which we now see is a pretty good form line,” Dart said.

“She’s a funny little thing, she can be a bit timid; I think once I can get her to come out of her shell, she could really be something.

“Five starts for a couple of wins and three runner-ups - she’s already going well.

“Her mother Tahlia’s Way won over the 700, so it’s promising to see her showing fair box speed and matching it in her run homes.”

Dart has recently taken the reigns with Dreamy Dan (Fernando Bale/Jeannie Dreaming) and was the second quickest Easter Trophy heat winner on the night, firing out on his way to a 29.96 triumph.

“He began well last week and got bumped at the first turn, he lost about six lengths and was beaten a neck, so you knew if he came out last night, he was going to be hard to beat,” he said.

“I haven’t had the dog the whole way through, I was actually picking up a dog for a mate from Claude’s (Dacey) and he said do you want to have a go with this bloke, so I took him home.

“He’s a professional Claude and knows what he’s doing when it comes to breeding, I was confident I was getting something handy and it’s proved that way so far.”

Rare Thursday win for Bloomfield

Expat Kitty Hawk was a surprise heat winner for Jason Bloomfield, giving the trainer a rare Thursday triumph, after the bitch was too good first time over the trip.

“I put her in more hopeful of a result than confident, she’d never had a post-to post or box-to-box at Albion but once she punched through to lead, she just kept on finding,” Bloomfield said.

“Her last run at Ipswich where she came from the clouds over the 431 to win convinced me to put her in, she hit the line like a bitch who wanted further, and the Easter Trophy looked a nice place to start her 500-metre career.”

“I predominantly train sprinters over the shorter trips at Ipswich, it’s not often I get to Albion Park on Thursday night let alone win, on that performance we’ll be coming back most weeks now I think.”