BY MICHAEL COURT
EUREKA winner Don Hugo showed he will almost be certain one of the favoured runners for next weekend’s $500,000 TAB Inter Dominion Pacing final with a devastating win at Menangle tonight in the first of the three final Inter Dominion heats.
Don Hugo worked hard to find the front but then dictated terms and raced away to score a 7.3m win over Jimartee and Jilliby Nitro in a slick 1:52.6 mile rate.
“Gee, he went super,” said his trainer-driver Luke McCarthy.
“There was that 48.3s lead time and I had to use him up a fair bit.
“But he raced really keen and that gives us a lot of confidence out of that run tonight.
“I actually put that first night down to trainer error – he was not super hard-fit that first night at Newcastle but he’s bounced out of that and now is right where he needs to be.
“Hopefully, after those two good runs, he’ll now be spot-on for next week.
“He eats and drinks well and is just such an easy horse to train. Hopefully we have a nice week and can come up with a good draw for the final.
“The barrier draw is important for every race and hopefully we can come off the front.”
The second heat of the night saw young Victorian reinsman Ryan Sanderson produce a gem of a drive to land the money with Dangerous, scoring by a half neck from Minstrel, with Terry a close third in a 1:52.2 mile rate.
“It’s a great feeling and good to finally get a good run in a race like this with a good horse,” said Sanderson, whose father Shane trains Dangerous.
“We know what he can do and hopefully he gets through the week OK and we can now look forward to the final.
“He’s had a lot of great runs here but tonight things finally went his way.
“This series he has never warmed up better and it has given me the confidence while driving him and I’m glad he showed the right time to pull his head in.
“With the right run he could go close next week.
“I feel incredibly lucky. We have some great owners and Dad has been great and its great to replay them all with a win like this.”
The third heat continued the rapid climb of Captains Knock into mixing with the best – and beating them.
Brad Hewitt worked the four-year-old to the front and turned the race into a procession, scoring by 5.3 m from My Moonlite Dream and Curly James in a 1:52.4 mile rate.
“He’s handled everything really well,” said Hewitt.
“He’s had enough starts now and is a good traveller. The humid weather is the only thing that’s worried him but I just let him roll up a bit tonight and we tried to get a break on Curly James and he was doing it really well.
“We’d love to draw somewhere down low in the final. He’s had no luck with barrier draws so far in the series, so maybe he’s due to get a good low draw.”
