Shoulders rocketed into contention for the Group 1 Sportingbet Megastar at Dapto next Friday night with a hard fought win in the Prelude.
In a drama filled race which saw Push It and Exhibionist fall, Shoulders trailed Lacey Lois for much of the race before Shoulders powered to the lead and proved too strong in the end drawing away for a 5 1/2 length win in 29.69.
Woods battled on gamely for third while My Awesome Opal was fourth.
The good news continued for Shoulders and his trainer Anthony Azzzopardi after the race with the duo drawing box one for the $75,000-to-the-winner Megastar final.
Lacey Lois and Woods also qualified for the Megastar having finished in the placings in last night's Prelude and they drew boxes eight and five respectively for the final.
The Prelude risked being abandoned after Exhibionist turned back towards the field as they were rounding the home corner. Luckily quick thinking track staff got to Exhibionist and pulled him off the track in time.
Meanwhile, Chica Destacada, who was an automatic qualifier for next week's Megastar, put in one of her last preparations for the race with a 30.18 trial over the 520m between races at Dapto last night. Chica Destacada has drawn box two for the next week's final.
Queensland Derby winner Flash Reality was the most impressive of the finalists to trial last night, running 29.78, while Ritza Hattie also trialled in 30.26.
The full box draw for next Friday's Sportingbet Megastar at Dapto is: 1. Shoulders 2. Chica Destacada 3. Tommy Brislane 4. Flash Reality 5. Woods 6. Ritza Hattie 7. Zipping Willow 8. Lacey Lois 9. My Awesome Opal 10. Velvet Flame
The Sportingbet Megastar is the second leg of the Thank Dog It's Friday series which showcases the best regional racing in a primetime Friday night slot.
