Magnificent Storm chasing Queensland riches

Buzz Western Australian pacer Magnificent Storm (American Ideal) will cross the country to chase the Queensland Constellations harness racing riches.

Veteran trainer Ray Williams said the trip was “a goer” and plans would be finalised after Magnificent Storm tackled Friday night’s $30,000 Memorial Day Stakes (2536m) at Gloucester Park.

“He’ll go, it’s just a matter of when and for what races,” he said.

“Let us get through this Friday, then Robbie (Tomlinson, managing owner) and I can work out the details.

“He deserves a crack at it. I’ve got my head around that now. We need to find out where he sits with the best in the east and give him the experience of some travel away.

“It’s no secret the owners have been keen to travel him for the past year or so. Now’s the time.”

Magnificent Storm grabbed headlines for the wrong reason a desperately unlucky seventh as a $1.70 in the inaugural $1mil Nullarbor at Gloucester Park last Friday week.

Connections subsequently opted for a change of driver with Aiden De Campo replacing Aldo Cortopassi.

De Campo, who had driven Magnificent Storm for three wins as many drives while Cortopassi was injured previously, kept his unbeaten record intact in last Saturday night’s Narrogin Cup.

Magnificent Storm raced clear in slick time to win by 18.4m to post his 29th win from just 46 starts.

“We felt we had him better than ever in Nullarbor, so it was good just to see him come out at Narrogin and back that up by winning so easily and just outside the track record time,” Williams said.

“He’s only had five runs back from a break so, he’s raring to go.”

The key Albion Park targets for Magnificent Storm are the $200,000 Group 1 Sunshine Sprint on July 15 and the $400,000 Blacks A Fake a week later.

There’s also the option of heading across earlier to kick-start with the $50,000 Mr Feelgood on July 8.

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing Australia