Crash Bandicoot, who won the Group 1 Vic Peters Classic at Wentworth Park on November 4, picked up where he left off in 2017 by setting the Time standard in Saturday night's heats of the Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg at headquarters.
Crash Bandicoot gave Victorian trainer Anthony Azzopardi the first leg of a winning double by upsetting a huge plunge on Ritza Lenny, scoring by a neck in 29.65.
Last year's Easter Egg winner Striker Light was a gallant third after setting a scorching pace, posting almost unheard of splits of 5.37, 13.55 and 17.66 before tiring in the straight.
Crash Bandicoot is owned by Hayley Moffitt, whose mother JODIE Lord trained Rohan Hill to land an Easter Egg heat in 29.79.
Azzopardi also won a heat with Dual Keroma, owned by central coast breeders Susan and Ray Pitstock.
Dual Keroma was having his first start for Azzopardi who picked the dog up after he finished fifth for the Pitstock’s in the Group 1 Paws Of Thunder final at Wentworth Park on January 20.
"Dual Keroma had box one in the Paws Of Thunder and because he is accustomed to drawing out wide, he got over anxious as the lure approached and banged and cut his head on the starting box,'' Ray Pitstock said.
"Anthony has trained successfully for us previously so we decided then that the Time was right for a change of kennels for Dual Keroma.''
Although she was only third fastest qualifier with a 29.72 heat win, none of Saturday night's winner was more impressive than the Hank Vanderburg-trained Miss Splendamiro.
After being checked at box rise and pushed back to fourth at the first turn, Miss Splendamiro gave the mighty Up Hill Jill a big start to the home turn but roared home to win by over a length.
Second fastest heat winner was Aston Duke, trained in the Hunter Valley by Jason MACKAY for leviathan owner Ray Borda.
Aston Duke began brilliantly from box six to lead throughout in 29.67, recording quick splits of 5.41, 13.78 and 17.87 en route to his five lengths win.
"I became confident about Aston Duke's chances when a scratching left him with a vacant box on his outside,'' MACKAY said.
"I felt he only had to begin cleanly to win and he came out running.''
Grafton-trained Cosmic Bonus, who finished seventh to Shima Song in an Easter Egg heat last year, burst into 2018 calculations with an impressive 29.78 performance, giving Sound Advice a start and a beating in heat seven.
Trainer Paul Abela described Aston Frankel as a "hit and miss beginner'' after the dog nailed the start to run down the JODIE Lord-trained Champion Model in a 29.96 heat.
"He does not always come out as well as he did tonight but drawing box one probably helped drag him out,'' Abela said.
Queensland-owned Alpha Georgiou, trained in Victoria by Jeff Britton, was a $14 outsider in heat four but led throughout to win by a half head from Falcon's Fury in 29.80.
Royal Turbo, the "king'' of Wentworth Park, notched his 15th win at headquarters when he led throughout as a $12 roughie, clocking 29.90 in heat six.
Only heat winner failing to get under 30sec was Dreaming Time, who took advantage of a first turn scrimmage to lead on the back straight before hanging on to win in 30.29.
See you next week!
