Prizemoney hike fuels big SA Pacing Cup battle

Two of Victoria’s leading stables will go head to head in the Group 3 $100,000 Kevin and Kay Seymour South Australian Pacing Cup (2645 metres) at Globe Derby Park on Saturday night. The stakemoney has been boosted by a $40,000 contribution by the SA Harness Racing Club.

A hefty $241,000 in stakemoney plus valuable trophies will be up for grabs across the bumper 10 race card.

Last week’s Pacing Cup heat winners The Last Trip, trained by premier horsewoman Emma Stewart, and the Aaron Dunn entry Forty Love will lock horns for the first time with the opportunity of a slot in the $1.5 million TAB Eureka on the line.

The Last Trip, who smashed the track record after sitting parked throughout in his heat, will start from barrier three, while Forty Love has drawn the No. 6 gate.

The Seaton Grima trained pair Springfield Affair (5) and South Seas Rock (8), who were placed in their respective heats, represent the biggest threat to the two favourites.

The Group 3 $40,000 Aldebaran Park SA Trotters Cup promises to be one of the highlights of the night with a band of four Victorian raiders taking on the best of the local brigade in the 2645 metres standing start feature.

Bitta Irish Luck and The Vicar’s Girl, who will both start from a 10 metre handicap, won their respective heats in style, but the pair can expect plenty of opposition from the likes of track record holder Aldebaran Dexta, the much improved Reoffender and the 20 metre backmarkers More Wanted and Regal Attire.

Victorian trained three-year-olds look to have a mortgage on the Listed $30,000 Fed Live SA Pacing Derby (2230 metres) headed up by Luvtobeuptome and Major Blitz, who quinellaed the faster of the two heats, and the recent Melton winner Zanda Man.

The south-east trained youngster Steam Machine, who led throughout in his heat, looks certain to give a great sight again from his poleline draw.

The night’s remaining feature, the Listed $20,000 Alabar SA BOTRA Golden Nursery (1800 metres), is shaping as a two-horse war between the heat winners Casterton (barrier 10), a member of the Emma Stewart team, and the unbeaten local Rankine (8).

The first of 10 races will be at 6.18pm Central Time.

by Peter Wharton, for Harnesslink