All eyes on High Above – TAB Eureka Watch

THERE are a string of feature races across some terrific meetings this weekend, but could the $2.1mil TAB Eureka winner be hidden away in a $9000 race at Melton on Friday night?

Boom four-year-old High Above (Captaintreacherous), the half-brother to injury-plagued superstar Ride High (16 wins from just 18 starts, makes his long-awaited return against a moderate line-up in the eighth race at Melton.

In contrast, TAB Eureka big guns Frankie Ferocious and Captains Knock are in the $350,000 Group 1 Rising Sun at Albion Park on Saturday night, The Lost Storm tackles a hot Koala King Free-For-All at Melton on Saturday night and buzz WA pacer Never Ending returns in a free-for-all at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

But there is something about High Above.

Injuries have restricted the four-year-old son of Captaintreacherous to just four starts. He galloped at the start and lost all hope on debut and has easily won his next three starts.

But the latest of those was way back on August 18, last year in the Colin Holloway 3YO Classic at Ballarat.

Notably, High Above did beat stablemate Perfect Class that night and he has gone on to run second in the Group 1 Vicbred final, second in the Group 1 Victoria Derby and second in the Group 2 4YO Bonanza to Frankie Ferocious, who then won the Chariots Of Fire.

High Above has only had one official trial in preparation for his return, which saw him toy with inferior rivals and win by 33.5m at Melton on June 25.

Before that, co-trainers Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin took him to a private workout on a wet Ballarat track where he was clocked to run a staggering 53.5sec last half chasing him his former Hunter Cup-winning stablemate Honolua Bay.

While it seems a giant leap for a pacer who has raced just four times with the TAB Eureka less than two months away, he does look to have serious X factor.

That’s underlined by the fact high-profile owners Danny and Jo Zavitsanos are still considering using their TAB Eureka slot on High Above instead of their own Victoria Derby winner Petracca.

And the latest TAB Eureka markets have High Above kept very safe at $7.50.

With so many TAB Eureka big guns in action this weekend, that market could look very different by Sunday.

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing Australia