Hard Style Rico, who was fastest qualifier for the group 1 Silver Chief Classic at The Meadows on January 4, has joined Jason MACKAY's Hunter Valley kennels for a tilt at Friday night's heats of the National Derby at Wentworth Park.
MACKAY gave Hard Style Rico his first look at Wentworth Park before the first race last Saturday and the dog lived up to his big Melbourne reputation.
Hard Style Rico, who has won six of 11 Victorian starts, trialled solo and covered the 520m in 29.84s, posting smart sectionals of 5.48s, 13.90s and 17.93s.
The dog won his Silver Chief heat over 525m at The Meadows in 29.63s before finishing sixth in Simon Told Helen's 29.68s final.
"Hard Style Rico's owner called me to inquire if I had room for his dog because he wanted to send him to Sydney,'' MACKAY recalled.
"I told him I had no space but when he said the dog had won in 24.77s over 450m at Ballarat, I said 'hang on a minute, I just remembered I do have a spare kennel.'
"Shima Shine holds the Ballarat record at 24.75s so who would knock back the chance to accommodate a dog like Hard Style Rico.
"I was pleased with his trial last Saturday because on his the early pace he has shown in Victoria, he can improve on that 5.48s first split.''
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LAST Saturday's Wentworth Park solo trials also included a nippy 30.14s hit-out by another former Victorian, Revelation, who has joined the kennels of another leading Sydney trainer, Mark Gatt.
Revelation, who has won nine of just a dozen races, recorded splits of 5.62s, 14.11s and 18.31s.
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COSMIC Bonus, who took out the $100,000 to the winners Master Meteor at Wentworth Park in 2018, notched a remarkable 60th win on Queensland's Capalaba straight track last Sunday.
Raced and trained by his breeders Evelyn and Len Harris, Cosmic Bonus' win lifted his earnings to over $376,000.
"We have nominated him for a Masters race at Casino on Friday,'' Evelyn Harris said.
"Then we plan to give him a crack at next month's Capalaba Cup heats on February 23.
"Cosmic Bonus was racing like tired dog towards the end of 2019 so over the Christmas holidays we gave him a short break and it rejuvenated him.''
The four hours' drive from their base at Grafton to Capalaba comes easy for the Harrises, who regularly make the nine hour trip to Wentworth Park.
Over the past two years Len, 70, and Evelyn, 71, have chalked up more than 170,000km in pursuit of winning races.
"Our next big target are the Vince Curry Memorial Maiden heats at Ipswich on February 1, and at this stage we will have nine members of a litter we bred by Fernando Bale from Magic Display, lining up for this series,'' Evelyn said.
Magic Display was a brilliant performer for the Harris family, winning 26 of 96 races and reaching the final of the 2014 Golden Easter Egg, won by Victoria's Tonk at Wentworth Park.
