Jilliby Ballerini in formidable return to racing

Outstanding trotting mare Jilliby Ballerini (Majestic Son) who was one of the nation’s improved trotters last season showed that she is back in business with an awesome all the way win in the Trotters Free For All at Cranbourne on Saturday evening.

The mare hadn’t raced since her unsuccessful campaign in New Zealand in November in the Dominion and the Trotters Free For All.

However at Cranbourne she was considered a near certainty by punters and consequently started at unbackable odds. Rockinwithattitude who also was resuming since winning at Melton in October 2024 was the only other runner under double figures.

Jilliby Ballerini was tested early for the lead by Rockinwithattitude but Jason Lee was in no mood to surrender and she held the lead while Rockinwithattitude dropped in behind for the trail.

After breezing along early in steady pace, Lee let Jilliby Ballerini to stride along in the third quarter where she ran 27 seconds and unextended she still ran 28.2 seconds to record a really impressive win.

JILLIBY BALLERINI 3 JAN REPLAY

Rockinwithattitude tried to keep up but she couldn’t match the sheer speed of Jilliby Ballerini and she was 14 metres behind in second place with Our Marvella a distant third. Certainly Rockinwithattitude was far from disgraced and she will be improved by that effort.

Jilliby Ballerini dispelled any doubts that may have lingered after her New Zealand campaign and she is proving to be a worthy second string to the Lee’s star mare Keayang Zahara.

The stable plans to run Jilliby Ballerini in next Saturday’s $30,000 Group 3 Aldebaran Park Trotters Cup at Bendigo while Keayang Zahara is looking to take on the Group 1 $100,000 Maori Mile on the same night.

Earlier in the night, the Lee’s four year old mare Jilliby Dreamlover (Love You) gave a faultless display of front running to record an effortless win in the Aldebaran Park Trotters handicap.

Last season she made a number of errors but with racing she has matured into a very capable mare and this was her third win on end following successive wins at Melton.

For complete race results, click here.

by Tony Milanese, for Harnesslink