SEVERAL years of waiting will come to an end for Peter Bullock at this Wednesday night's Bathurst Paceway meeting when Charolais Shannon makes his debut.
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The five-year-old Shadow Play gelding has endured his share of issues which have prevented him from making an earlier start but Bullock believes that's all behind his runner in the lead up to the Yirribee Pacing Stud Pace (1,730 metres).
His recent trial win is a sign things are heading in the right direction, and he'll look to continue that trajectory on Wednesday when he goes out from the wide gate.
The journey to the race track has been an arduous one for Charolais Shannon and Bullock's happy to see him finally get there.
"He went really good in his one trial and we hope he'll do the same at the races. He's a five-year-old and a late starter so we'll see what happens," Bullock said.
"He was a little bit on the small side so he needed a bit of time to develop. Even though he showed a bit of potential he'd keep doing a few things wrong early on. When we sorted that out he got a bit speed crazy and out of control.
"This time he got through all that."
When the issues had been resolved the Bullock stable still had to wait and see whether Charolais Shannon would avoid any misbehaving in his recent trial.
Not only did he keep a clear head, he went on to win in a mile rate of 1:56.8.
"He probably went quicker than what we were expecting but he'd had a couple of green trials and he'd gone well in them," Bullock said.
"We've been hopeful but he's gone even better than we'd hoped for. We're pretty happy with him."
Charolais Shannon will be joined by stablemates Kingston Shannon and Kyle Shannon in the penultimate race of the night.
"I think the two stablemates are actually two of the harder ones to beat in the race, but I'd still favour him at this stage," Bullock said.
"He's got no race experience though, and he's drawn out in eight, which is never easy for any horse no matter how much experience they've had."
While Bullock believes Charolais Shannon has the capability of going forward he believes driver Aaron Williams will likely play things safe and only make such a move if an opportunity presents itself.
McKayler Barnes and Travis Bullock have the drives on Kyle and Kingston Shannon respectively.
Bullock has Swaggie Shannon and Bill Shannon in action on Wednesday to bring his total to five runners.
Swaggie Shannon earned the inside gate for the night's top-graded Lion Nathan Pace (1,730m) while Bill Shannon will be out to end the night on a high in the Reliance Bank Pace (1,730m).
Bathurst nine-race meeting gets underway from 6.02pm.
