Mach Shard the lone interstate raider in Kilmore Cup

Belinda McCarthy-trained Mach Shard (Mach Three) will race in Victoria for just the second time in his career when he lines up in harness racing’s Group 2 Jet Roofing Kilmore Pacing Cup on Friday night (Sep. 23).

The seven-year-old will be first-up into the $80,000 feature where he will start from barrier three.

McCarthy’s husband Luke will make the trip to Kilmore to drive the gelding, who last raced in the Group 1 Blacks A Fake Queensland Championship in July.

Mach Shard’s one and only appearance in Victoria came in 2020 when he scored victory in the Group 2 Casey Classic while trained by New Zealand horseman Barry Purdon.

The 2022 Kilmore Pacing Cup shapes as an intriguing affair, with Emma Stewart-trained Beyond Delight and Like A Wildfire returning from breaks alongside stablemate Honolua Bay, who is looking to bounce back from his first defeat for the camp.

Michael Stanley-trained Rock N Roll Doo was a last-start winner of the Group 1 VHRC Caduceus Classic and will begin from barrier five, Julie Douglas’ Torrid Saint has a good draw inside the front row, while David Aiken-prepared Max Delight has two.

The TAB opened Like A Wildfire and Honolua Bay as joint $5.50 favourites on Tuesday, with the latter quickly supported into a $3.70 chance by 2pm.

Max Delight, Rock N Roll Doo, Beyond Delight and Joe Pace-trained Supreme Dominator were all $7 out to $8.50 in early betting.

The MC Labour Kilmore Trotters Cup will also be run at Group 2 level on Friday night, and the Shepparton Cup quinella of Just Believe (Jess Tubbs) and All Cashed Up (Anton Golino) opened $2.80 before drifting to $3.10 equal favourites.

Ultimate Stride (Chris Lang) was $8.50 to $7.50 early, while Powderkeg (Lisa Miles, $10-$8.50), Imamaorijet (Paddy Lee, $15-$11) and Baltica (Emmett and Richard Brosnan, $23-$11) all trimmed on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, explosive first-up winner Captain Ravishing (Captaintreacherous) is a warm $1.20 favourite in the Reg Withers 3YO Classic.

He reeled off a sizzling 25.1sec last quarter when winning on debut for Stewart at Ballarat on September 9 and is one of the key chances in the market for October 8’s Victoria Derby.

For complete race fields, click here.

by Tim O’Connor, for HRV