PACING
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
KAPOW Shannon dished out a lesson in how to take control of a race on Sunday at Eugowra as he won heat one of the annual Canola Cup (2,100 metres) series.
The four-year-old rig surged to the front from the second row and never looked headed. He finished 7.4m clear of fast finishing Is That So ($35.20) with Kytherian Flyer ($23.70) another 4.5m adrift.
A bit of luck did come the way of the Bathurst runner when favourite Perfectionist ($1.10) fell into trouble early, but Kapow Shannon’s driver Michael Munro made the most of it.
“It was a spectacular drive for Mick. When we saw the short priced favourite got the good draw and we were back on the second row we thought that might have been that,” trainer Peter Bullock said.
“He’s a handy horse but just on the draw it could have put us out of the race. Sometimes things just work out in your favour.
“We kept him back for this and off the track for a month because we knew that he was ready for a win and he did well.”
It was a messy start when the gates flew back as All Positive galloped immediately from the inside of the second row. On the front row race favourite Perfectionist also struck trouble.
But Kapow Shannon ($15.50) couldn’t have asked for a stronger start. Hunting three wide from the second row, he used the disrupted start to his advantage to weave his way into the death seat.
Nathan Hurst’s favourite was soon pulled out of the running with faulty gear, but out in front was Lexys All Ears with Kapow Shannon sitting on her outside.
After the field received the bell and went around the back one last time, Kapow Shannon put several lengths on Lexys All Ears and threw down the challenge to the rest of the field.
Is That So was the only one who could answer that call, but had to come from both a long way back to mount a challenge.
Kytherian Flyer also finished with plenty of speed, but the pair couldn’t catch Kapow Shannon.
The winning mile rate was 2:03.2, the slowest of the six heats, which rules the minor placegetters out of a finals spot.
Bullock’s Four Starzzz Shark out of Silky Shannon rig has found a purple patch of form with three wins now from his last four starts.
The trainer hopes that a better barrier draw for next week’s final will work out in his favour.
“He’s got the four for the final but with a reserve on the inside, so he’ll be going out of three. He has a nice bit of gate speed so that’s not a bad draw for us,” he said.
“It seems that things have turned around this time as we’ve got the good draw while the better chances are going off from the second. I’m not going to go into the race overconfident, but I’ll say that it wouldn’t surprise me if we got up.”
Bathurst trainers and drivers were involved in five of the six cup heat wins as Bernie Hewitt had three successful drives and Steve Turnbull trained a victor.