Feral Franky took his Albion Park tally to four wins from as many appearances with what many believe was his finest performance in last Thursday night's heat of the Gold Bullion.
Last to hit the ground from his outside draw, Feral Franky worked his way cleverly through the field to be second on the back straight before careering away to win by 13 lengths.
His time for the 520m was 29.67s, just .01s slower than Fernando Blaster's fastest time of the three heats.
Good Odds Harada gave NSW a clean sweep of the heats by running down Nangar Gift, trained at ORANGE by Dennis Barnes, in 29.89.
Although Feral Franky handled himself well when it seemed he was going to be caught up in traffic at the first turn, he did get a decent knock going through the catching pen.
"I think that bump might have shaken him up a bit and made him awake,'' quipped Feral Franky's laconic trainer Jack Smith.
"But it wasn't a bad run was it?''
Smith is delighted with Franky">Feral Frank">Franky's box two draw in Friday night's 520m final at Albion Park, while the Frank Hurst-trained Good Odds Harada is also reasonably well positioned in three.
Fernando Blaster, trained by Terry Jordan in the NSW Northern Rivers area, led throughout to win his heat from box two and while he prefers a wide draw he looks to be the worst placed of the heat winners, coming up with box four.
xxxx
Good Odds Harada's trainer Frank Hurst believes his dog could "make" Friday's $150,000 to the winner Gold Bullion for arch rival Franky">Feral Franky.
"My dog's box three draw could be a lot worse but I do think Good Odds Harada is likely to give Feral Franky plenty of help,'' Hurst said.
Good Odds Harada tends to use a bit of the track these days, and "presented" the recent Christmas Gift at Wentworth Park to "the Feral'' by making the pace but racing wide on the back straight, giving Jack Smith's champ a clear run along the rails.
xxxx
LEADING South Australian trainer Tony Rasmussen's Little Earner looks a top candidate for the January 17 National Futurity heats following an impressive solo trial over 520m at Wentworth Park.
Little Earner covered the trip in a handy 30.20 but it was her first two sectional splits, 5.41 and 13.87, which impressed onlookers.
Little Earner won her first six starts, at Murray Bridge and Angle Park, and has been placed in each of two Victorian appearances over 515m at Sandown.
An October 2017 whelping, she is the ideal age for the Futurity, which is for bitches whelped on or after the first of that month.
xxxx
THE Sultana family began 2020 with a bang at Richmond on Friday, with dad Sam landing a 400m race with Tranquil Slim and daughter Michelle training a winning a treble.
Michelle won a maiden race over 400m with Block Me in 23.04, took out a fifth grade over the same trip with Drink Beers in 22.54, and won a 535m event in 30.87 with Zipping Bram.
