Despite frigid conditions the battle for this year's Sam Agostino heated up in earnest on the weekend with four heats establishing the field for next week's final.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The first heat of the day was taken out by John O'Shea's Pure Charisma, who won the race with a time of 2:44.1, just pulling the thinnest of margin's on the line ahead of the Bernie Hewitt-trained Lord Denzel, driven by Bathurst Panthers captain-coach Doug Hewitt.
The second race of the day, taken out by Brexitt in a confident drive from Seryn Adams, was no less thrilling, but for recents distinct from the first race.
The Luke Primmer-trained five-year-old Bay Gelding used its favourable front row draw from the outset, leading the length of the race to hold out a fast-finishing driver-trained Express Pass by a metre and a half in the fastest time of the day.
Following that heat, with track conditions continuing to hold up in spite of light rainfall, Headline Hunter did just that in race three, with Robert Clifford comfortably pulling ahead in the final straight to win by 3.3 metres from Malcolm Hutchings' Soldtoyoulady.
Pre-race favourite Dinosaurus Rex was dealt an unfavourable draw, and was simply unable to bridge its outside draw despite coming home fast, finishing in fourth.
The final race was the only that yielded a positive dividend for those who were backing pre-race favourites, with Mark Hewitt's Bobby Street narrowly holding on against the Gemma Rue-trained, Mat Rue-driven Ichiba Newy to ensure the day ended as a dead heat.
Bobby Street pulled ahead during the final lap, however as the race pulled into the final straight, Hewitt's four-year-old Brown Gelding began to flag, with the Rues' four-year-old Bay Mare making up the gap at the final straight, with Navua Girl only fractionally further back.
The Memorial's final will take place on Sunday at the Cowra Showgrounds.
READ ALSO:
