Cigano lands Team Lee’s Eureka slot as Stewart doubles up

Cigano (Poster Boy – Frankincense) will run in the $1.5 million TAB Eureka after being confirmed this morning as the runner for slot holder Levarg Racing Group, with Victorian reinsman Jason Lee to drive.

The selection is a story of plans changing. Team Lee bought the slot intending to run their own pacer Keayang Renegade, but an injury ruled him out and sent the group looking elsewhere. Paddy Lee said the group had considered a few options before settling on the Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin trained four-year-old.

“Cigano has been the focus of our group for the past few weeks,” Paddy Lee said.

Lee pointed to Cigano’s dominant win at Melton on Victoria Cup night and his follow-up at Menangle last Saturday as the deciding factors. He added that having Jason Lee in the sulky was important to the group, and that Stewart and Tonkin were very understanding of that when the deal was discussed.

Cigano’s Menangle win was one of the standout performances of the weekend. From barrier 10, he went three wide early for Mark Pitt and was fourth with 400m to run before sprinting his last quarter in 25.5 to win by 8m at $1.06 in a 1:53.5 mile rate.

The son of former Chariots Of Fire winner Poster Boy has now won 12 of his 18 starts. He is trained by Stewart and Tonkin and owned by Tonkin, and TAB has him at $6 in its Eureka market.

His confirmation gives the stable a second runner, alongside the Harnesslink slot runner and Victoria Oaks winner Bettor Beach. Stewart and Tonkin have dominated the race in its short history, winning the inaugural Eureka in 2023 with Encipher, running second and third with Bay Of Biscay and High Above in 2024, and taking the quinella with Bay Of Biscay and Fox Dan last year, when the stable had a record four runners.

That record could yet be matched. Fox Dan and The Last Trip, both winners last Saturday night, are reported to be strongly in consideration with several of the remaining slot holders.

Six of the 10 runners are now confirmed: Loucasso (Rampant Standardbreds), Double Lou (The Don), Soho Charmer (Soho Standardbreds), Bettor Beach (Harnesslink), Fate Awaits (Western Jewel) and Cigano (Levarg Racing Group).

The four slots still open are held by Cordina Racing, Team Zav, Solid Earth and Go Racing, with runners to be named by Saturday, November 14. The TAB Eureka will be run at Club Menangle on Saturday, November 21.

 

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From Harnesslink Media