Cardigan Dan wins invite for Protostar

Lightly raced colt Cardigan Dan (Downbytheseaside) upset his more fancied harness racing stablemate Loucasso when he led for most of the trip in taking out the $20,000 Durham Park Rising Star for two year olds at Ballarat on Thursday evening.

The win capped a great night for trainer Emma Stewart as she prepared the first five to finish in the quality field of ten runners.

Letsstartinheaven showed dazzling speed from the mobile to lead clearly but Kate Gath on Cardigan Dan allowed the colt to tackle for the lead and took up the running with just over lap left to travel.

Mark Pitt on Loucasso went up early but was forced to race outside the leader with Letsstartinheaven taking the trail behind the leader. Cardigan Dan and Loucasso moved away from their rivals on leaving the back straight but Cardigan Dan cornered better and gained a small but vital break on Loucasso who seemed to wobble on the final bend.

CARDIGAN DAN JUN 12 REPLAY

However Loucasso knuckled down to his task and was gathering in Cardigan Dan but the post was too close and the latter prevailed by a head with Brooklyn Dan third and Knight Dan Fury in fourth placing. Cardigan Dan’s winning mile rate was 1.53.6 and he ran his last quarter in a fast 26.7 seconds. The flashy bay colt was a $45,000 purchase at the Melbourne Nutrien sales.

In winning Cardigan Dan secured an invitation for the $500,000 Protostar nation’s richest race for two year olds to be run at Albion Park on 12 July.

The Emma Stewart Clayton Tonkin duo may have up to three runners as the part owner of Cardigan Dan and a client of the Stewart stable Warren Viney has his own slot for the coveted classic as well as Stewart and Tonkin having their own stable slot.

There isn’t a great deal between Cardigan Dan and Loucasso and both have high speed. Cardigan Dan is sure to improve on what was just his fourth race appearance while Loucasso will take beating in anything that he leads in.

Two confirmed runners for the Protostar are Showmethetanlines (Downbytheseaside) and New South Wales colt Rewatch (Captain Crunch). Queensland’s best prospect appears to be the outstanding colt Fight for Victory (Bettors Delight) who only recently won the $50,000 Group 3 QBred Breeders Classic.

For complete race results, click here.

By Tony Milanese for Harnesslink