Field of nine to tackle John Slack Memorial at Ballarat

The promising Lettuce Trot (Tintin In America) will look to continue his rise through the harness racing ranks when he lines up from the inside gate in Saturday night’s John Slack Memorial Trotters Cup at Bray Raceway.

The Russell Jack-trained squaregaiter added to an impressive record with the biggest victory of his career in the Group 2 Mates4harness Trot NSW 4&5YO Final at Menangle on July 1 and heads back to the races looking to make it three-straight wins.

He has barrier one for Ballarat’s annual trotting feature, which doubles as a leg of the 2023 Maori’s Idol Trotting Championship.

The Chris Svanosio-trained Brandlo Prince sits ninth on the championship leaderboard following his victory in the Warragul Trotters Cup and makes his return from that April 9 triumph in the John Slack Memorial.

He has gate six for driver Ross Payne and will take on a hot field of rivals that includes last-start winner Chinese Whisper (seven), Alison Alford’s top mare Sleepee (eight) and Ross Graham’s consistent trotter Nephew Of Sonoko (nine). Past country cups king Well Defined (two) is now back in the care of trainer Kate Hargreaves and will chase his first victory since the 2021 Mildura feature, Brandlo Prince’s stablemate Anywhere Hugo (three) will be driven by his trainer, while Majestical Belle (four) and Bullion Harry (five) are also in contention for the Group 3 $30,000 event.

The John Slack Memorial is the headline on Saturday night’s card at Bray Raceway, which hosts metropolitan racing for the first time since its pacing cup meeting in January.

Rob Auber, Darren Carroll, Tim O’Connor and caller Luke Humphreys will be part of the TrotsVision coverage, with the first race set to go at 5.30pm.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Tim O’Connor, for Harness Racing Victoria