Top trio set for battle
CAIRNS trainer Stephen Massingham will look to increase his ever-improving strike rate with three last start winners at Townsville this afternoon.
The reigning Cairns Amateurs Cup winner rates in the top 20 trainers in Queensland this season on the provincial circuit.
Of the top 20, Massingham boasts the leading strike rate, at 32.1 per cent, with 17 winners recorded from just 53 starts since August 1.
The Cannon Park trainer sends a handful to Cluden Park today – Snowy Moet, Reagan, Zero Secrets, Bracteate and The Harrovian – as racing returns to the track following the devastating floods earlier this year.
In-form pair Bracteate and The Harrovian will go headto-head in the Open Handicap (1400m), a scenario Massingham was hoping to avoid.
“I definitely did not want to run them against each other, that is for sure,” Massingham said.
“The Harrovian is stepping up a lot in grade, he only won a Class 3 the other day and is up to Open grade.
“The opinion we have of the horse, I think we will be competitive.
“Bracteate is going super. I was really happy with his run the other day.
“Bracteate will likely roll forward from his gate while The Harrovian will likely go back.”
Former NSW-based gelding Reagan is searching for his third win in a row since moving to the Far North.
He put away a maiden field in March, followed that up with another dominant victory in a Three-Year-Old Handicap and now heads into a Class 3 Handicap.
“It will be good to see how he measures up to the better grade,” Massingham said.
“He is improving all the time.”
Meanwhile, Tablelands trainer Alan Pateman is hopeful She’s Maganda can cause a boilover in the first race this afternoon.
The filly is chasing her first win in her third start.
“I have high hopes for her, so we will see how we go,” Pateman said.
Townsville Turf Club returns to racing this afternoon for the first time in almost two months.