Bad Boy Sniper will target two Group finals worth a combined $290,000 following his "tough" win at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
After Bad Boy Sniper came from fourth in a field of six to win the Free-For-All, trainer Jason Magri announced the dog would tackle Friday night’s heats of the Group 2 Richmond Derby.
The final of that race, worth $40,000 to the winner, is scheduled for March 13 with the Golden Easter Egg series, the second "leg" of Bad Boy Sniper’s mission, beginning on March 21.
Bad Boy Sniper won in 29.89 on Saturday, well wide of his personal best Wentworth Park figures of 29.43, but trainer Magri was rapt in the win.
"He had to stop and start a few times tonight so that was one of his best wins," Magri said.
"Bad Boy Sniper has now won five of seven starts from box seven so he certainly likes it out there. But irrespective of what box he gets, he is a fantastic chaser."
Absence of a suitable 600m race at Unibet Gardens on Saturday presented trainer Troy Halligan with a $4350 prizemoney windfall with his bitch Lorella Fire taking out Saturday night’s 520m Nivo’s Last Stand Stakes at Wentworth Park.
Lorella Fire came from third at the catching pen and second on the back straight to win comfortably from rank outsider Blue’s Revival, who set the pace.
"I trialled Lorella Fire over 600m at The Gardens on Tuesday and she flew," Halligan said.
"I had nominated her for a 600 metre race there at the weekend but when there was no race available and the Wentworth Park Saturday nominations were extended, I threw her in here.
"No doubt the 600m trial at The Gardens blunted her early zip because she was being trained for a middle distance race, so I am happy to come away with the win, even though the time was steady."
Richmond trainer Caroline Hughes landed a long-priced Wentworth Park double on Saturday night with double figure odds winners Lemon Tree Girl and Loose Connection.
Hughes’ family has a long history in the sport, with her brother John having won the 1995 Richmond Derby with Fabian and the Tweed Heads Galaxy in 1992 with Genesis.
On Friday night, Whittaker gave his backers palpitations by walking out of the boxes and being seventh at the first turn, where tearaway leader Let It Develop had set up a clear break on the field.
But in arguably the best performance among his five Wentworth Park wins, Whittaker virtually sprouted wings in the straight to win by three-quarters of a length.
Trainer Julie Fletcher believes trialling up the straight may have caused Whittaker to bungle the start.
"Because I decided to give him a month away from Wentworth Park I have had to keep him fit by trialling Whittaker up the straight," Fletcher said later.
“On the straight the lure starts from in front of the boxes and it seems he had got used to that because I have never seen him begin so badly as he did tonight."
See you next week!
