Brandlo Prince back in country cup mode after injury lay-off

Chris Svanosio-trained squaregaiter Brandlo Prince (Orlando Vici) will be aiming for back-to-back feature harness racing wins when he lines up in the John Slack Memorial Trotters Cup at Ballarat on Saturday night (Jul. 29).

The seven-year-old hasn’t raced since scoring an easy victory in the Eddie Evison Memorial Warragul Trotters Cup in April.

Svanosio said Brandlo Prince has had three trials after an injury-enforced lay-off following the Warragul victory.

“He injured a back leg so we gave him a break without going to the paddock. Instead, we wrapped his leg every day, but he seems over it now and he’s all good with three trials,” Svanosio said.

Svanosio believes the son of Orlando Vici will derive plenty of benefit from the hit-out on Saturday night.

“He’s reasonably close to the mark fitness-wise, but he needs racing to beat the good class trotters and will be better for the run,” he said.

Brandlo Prince was unlucky not to qualify for last year’s Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Grand Final, according to Svanosio.

“He went terrific in the second round of heats at Shepparton and although I usually nurse him out of the mobile, I asked him to come out of the gate too quickly in the final round of heats at Geelong and he galloped,” he said.

Svanosio said the path is now clear for Brandlo Prince’s connections to enjoy a season on the country cup circuit.

“The owners have had a lot of fun with this horse and now they can continue to do so as he is owned by Pat Driscoll who has agreed to renew the lease,” he said.

“He should be pretty competitive in the country cups later in the year.”

Bookmakers have had difficulty separating three runners at the head of betting, with the lightly-raced Lettuce Trot installed as the $3 equal favorite along with the Andy Gath-trained Chinese Whisper, just in advance of Lyn McPherson Memorial Breed For Speed Gold Final winner Sleepee ($3.20).

Brandlo Prince will be driven by Ross Payne and is a $61 chance, while Svanosio will partner $13 hope Anywhere Hugo.

For complete race entries, click here.

by John Dunne, for Harness Racing Victoria