Racing at Addington last night went up another notch as the stars of the sport began to shine.

Oscar Bonavena (Majestic Son) took another step toward the Dominion Trot when he won last night’s $40,000 Group Three ITM Ordeal Cup.

OSCAR BONAVENA REPLAY

“He was unlucky in Brisbane. He got the perfect run tonight and as you know he’s got that high speed and he was always going to be hard (to beat) once he got that nice trip. When Muscle Mountain came round, the speed came on. He did have to work a little hard before he became parked so that played into our hands,” said Mark Purdon who trains Oscar Bonavena with his son Nathan.

The win was the nine year old entire’s thirty fifth and he’ll continue to head towards the $400,000 Renwick Farms Dominion Trot on Cup Day.

Treacherous Baby (Captaintreacherous) also won for Purdon Racing.

“She got a nice trip too and capitalised on that,” Mark said.

It was the lightly raced mare’s eighth win.

Despite sitting parked, Got The Chocolates (Art Major) was too tough in taking out the $25,000 ‘Ian Dobson Memorial’ Johnny Globe Classic.

GOT THE CHOCOLATE REPLAY

“He relaxed beautifully tonight, and we stayed out of the early burn. We ended up parked but he went to sleep there. I clicked him up at the right time and he had a bit left which was great. Hopefully he’s come back a wee bit better but I need to find gate speed,” driver John Dunn said after the Robert and Jenna Dunn trained three year old beat Rubira by two lengths.

The result capped off a great night for owners Ross and Angela Gordon. Their horses Triple G (Downbytheseaside) and Follow Your Dream (Bettor’s Delight) quinellaed Race Four.

It was also an excellent night for the Dunn training partnership which trained four winners – Better B Quick, Got The Chocolates, Triple G and Celestial Sea which won the second heat of the Nevele R Fillies Series.

Alta Meteor (Art Major) trained by Steve and Amanda Telfer and driven by Tim Williams was also very good when he dominated from the top to win the $40,000 Group Three Avon City Ford New Brighton Cup.

“There was a little bit of ‘how is he going to go tonight?’  He was really good first up and to do this again tonight was a really good effort,” Amanda said.

The win gained Alta Meteor automatic entry into Novembers IRT New Zealand Cup.

“We’ll just look after him and we can place him where we want now.”

The Telfer have had to manage Altar Meteor’s health after his win in the National Handicap a month ago.

“He pulled up well after his fresh up run, but into the next week he got high temperatures and wasn’t eating. He was sick for about a week, but he’s come back well.”

As racing in Canterbury amps up, all that the nation is waiting for is the return of star three year old Marketplace.

For complete race results, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink