Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Kennelmates Cryer’s Plugger and Bekim Lucy’s, who over the past six weeks have been successfully making the trip to Adelaide’s Angle Park where more often than not they have drawn in the same race, will clash again when they return to Tara Raceway on Sunday.
However, Compton trainer Tracie Price said the pair would be back at Angle Park next Thursday night with Cryer’s Plugger definitely set to tackle the Shane McQueen Feature (600 metres) while Bekim Lucy’s could also run in the McQueen or possibly step up to 731 metres.
“I was keen to switch their tracks around a bit and reckon a run behind the finish-on-lure certainly won’t do either of them any harm,” Price said.
Cryer’s Plugger, owned at Apsley by Margaret Cryer, hasn’t beaten Bekim Lucy’s over 600 metres at Tara Raceway this year, running third behind the black bitch on a couple of occasions in February and March.
However, it’s been a different story over the middle-distance at Angle Park where he defeated Willie Vossen and Michael Robinson’s Bekim Lucy’s early in May before scoring an emphatic 5½ length win over her on Monday night.
The win came on the back of a top effort the previous week when Cryer’s Plugger ran the classy High Eden Snow to 1¾ lengths in quick time over 600 metres at the city track and had Price keen to talk up the brindle dog.
“He’s starting to get to know the track now,” he said. “It’s been a long haul travelling to Adelaide on a weekly basis but with every run he seems to be getting better and he’s now out and about.”
Sunday’s The Border Watch Open Stake (600 m) has attracted a top field, highlighted by Bekim Lucy’s in box four, Cryer’s Plugger in the eight and Paraphernalia in six.
Trained at Horsham by Jeff Guy, Paraphernalia, a former Tara Raceway 600 metre record holder at 34.97 seconds, led all the way in last Sunday’s Produce Store Open (600 m) to defeat recent 34.90 seconds winner Vectis Seyarda by 2½ lengths.
Meanwhile, current 600 metre record holder McIvor Verna (34.84 seconds), having her second run back after a three-month break, was successful at Bendigo over 660 metres last Friday prior to trainer Peter Franklin venturing over from Moyston on Sunday with litter brother McIvor Neville.
Out of the winner’s list for close to 12 months, McIvor Neville took over off the back and was too strong for Nimble Foot, running out a three length winner in 30.15 seconds in the Klaassens Contractors Stake (512 m).