Impressive heat winners and interstate challengers Kerrigan Bale and Oakvale Destiny will do battle in the first of three exciting Group 1 National Futurity semi-finals.
The pair jump from boxes one and box six respectively in Saturday’s Wentworth Park race having won their heats in impressive fashion.
Kerrigan Bale (pictured) followed up her third-place finish in the previous week’s Group 1 Paws of Thunder final at the Glebe track with a strong 29.81 win last Saturday night.
The Andrea Dailly-trained chaser has a strong record from the inside and looks a good chance to book a final place.
Oakvale Destiny has not been handed the easiest draw but should still be a contender for the final.
Jeff Britton’s dual Group winner also ran well in the Paws of Thunder heats and should have enough class here.
The field also includes promising NSW newcomer Jingjing, who finished behind Oakvale Destiny in the heats but could challenge from box three.
Victorian pair and heat winners Spring Leaf and Eyes Adorable jump from boxes seven and eight respectively in the second heat.
The Andrea Dailly-trained Spring Leaf has won two out of three at Wentworth Park in January since travelling north for the recent Paws of Thunder heats and look in great condition last Saturday.
The big danger here though could be Weblec Belle (box one), who only squeezed through as a third-placed heat finisher but has the class to challenge here.
Last year’s Group 3 Brian Johnstone Memorial winner at Angle Park looks to have drawn ideally and will have sharpened up from her heat run.
Two other heat winners, Megan">Megan Keeping and Zipping Abby, go head-to-head in the third semi-final.
They go from boxes one and two but the real danger looks like Megan Keeping’s kennelmate Zipping Midge in box three.
Yet another of Jason Mackay’s gun newcomers, she has only had seven starts but seems to have adapted to Wentworth Park racing superbly and ran Kerrigan Bale close in the heats.
Another of the Dailly hopefuls, Dyna Nico, has recorded three decent runs at Wentworth Park in recent weeks and could be a threat here.
The $75,000-to-the-winner final of the females-only race takes place next Saturday.
For Wentworth Park Saturday fields and form, click here.
