Driver rivalry to heat up at Menangle

Trailing by 10 as he arrived at the track, ace reinsman Jack Trainor must have been thinking “game on” when he landed three-year-old gelding Valencia a winner at Penrith on Thursday night.

Yet the ever-cool Cameron Hart simply turned around and landed a winning double, his third of the week, to end the night with an even bigger lead in the NSW drivers’ premiership.

Heading into Menangle this Saturday night, Trainor, who only resumed from suspension on Tuesday, will again be hoping to make up some of the leeway against the free-wheeling Hart, who now has 127 winners and an 11-win lead the top of the table.

Trainor has a full book and all but one of them are quoted at single-figure prices on the eight-race card.

Yet Hart also has some hot chances, with his last three drives rated his best on the program.

“Cam is a good friend of mine and a lot of my owners are happy for him to drive for us when he can,” said Trainor.

“You cannot do much about it and I wish Cam all the best.

“If it does come down to the wire, it would be good to be a part of it.

“And if it happens, it happens, but I do have a lot of other things on my mind at the moment with the feature races that are coming up.”

Trainor has about 20 horses in work at the moment and is working out a good system of turning them over and focusing on the best ones.

“I’m really happy with the team I’ve built up,” he said.

Trainor should be able to strike the earlier blow tonight when he drives Mighty Flying Art ($4.50) in the opening race, with Hart aboard Always Rockin ($9).

He also has a good chance in Race 2 with Soho Tsunami ($5) while Hart doesn’t have a drive in the race.

The third race should be interesting, with Trainor aboard Master Catch ($7.50) while Hart is on the $5 shot My Ultimate Star.

Yet Trainor is tipped to strike with stable newcomer B K Swy listed as the $3.50 favourite in Race 4 while Hart drives Heavenly Belle ($8).

Race 5 should also be interesting with the two gun reinsman driving for the Joe and Mary Rando stable, and although neither are fancied, they are drawn alongside each other with Hart driving Conon Bridge ($17) while Trainor’s chance is $100-1 shot Champagne Prince.

To view Saturday night’s Menangle fields click here.

By Michael Court for HRNSW