Wobelee all grown up and in a hurry

Champion reinsman Chris Alford believes driving Wobelee to utilise his burst of high-end speed will be important as he looks to match it with the sport's top squaregaiters on a regular basis.

The son of Down Under Muscles won numerous races at Group 1 level as a youngster, but hasn't been able to achieve the feat since joining open company.

He's got plenty of time to reach those heights and shapes, at least according to some, as the horse ready to take the mantle of Australia's next top trotter.

"It's hard to say really. I know he's got the ability to do it … he's probably more of a speed horse though than he is a strong horse, which sometimes can play against you in some races," Alford said.

"His speed takes him a long way and if I drive him for his speed I'll be more than happy."

Alford pointed to a recent trial at Kilmore to exemplify Wobelee's raw speed, with the horse zipping home in a 55-second last half.

"They only went slow early because it was a trial, but not many trotters would run a half in 55 at Kilmore and that's his main thing," he said.

"He's only had like 30 starts so he's still got a bit of toughening up to do, but I think he's come a fair way since he started racing these really good ones. He's not going to beat them out of turn like he did when he was a baby, but I'm sure when he gets the right runs he can beat them."

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Wobelee, who had a long lay-off through injury during the back half of 2018 and early part of 2019, produced one of his career-best runs when a narrow second to Tornado Valley in The Knight Pistol early this year. That performance pushed Kate Gath, who drove the winner, to say he could follow in the footsteps of her Inter Dominion champ.

The Alison Alford-trained gelding is only two runs back from a spell and will come up against guns McLovin and Savannah Jay Jay for the second-straight start this evening at Ballarat. He ran third to that pair at Melton earlier this month, where he tired in the latter stages to be beaten just over five metres.

"He went well first-up and then just ran out of puff second up," Chris Alford said.

"He'll be a bit more fitter now and it's only a small field. It's a tricky race because there's a fair bit of speed off the front and we know how strong McLovin is."

While Wobelee, McLovin and Savannah Jay Jay look three of the key chances, it's hard to discount Sundons Courage, Nephew Of Sonoko and My Skypocket, which weren't beaten far in that same race at Melton on July 4. Anton Golino's Imsettogo would have been a major player, but has been scratched from the event.

Ballarat's eight-race card will kick off from 4.58pm, with the last set to go at 8.32pm.

HRV – Tim O'Connor