Pete Lane

Cranbourne trainer Cindy Alderson left Ellerslie on Tuesday morning well satisfied that Jigsaw is on target for his Gr.1 Sistema Railway (1200m) mission.
The last-start winner of the A$1 million The Meteorite (1200m) on his home track in late November confirmed his position as equal favourite for Saturday’s big sprint with a bold hitout under regular rider Logan Bates.
“I was really pleased with him, he appeared to enjoy himself and Logan confirmed that he handled it well going right-handed,” Alderson said.
“He arrived on Sunday and has settled in well at Donna Logan’s stables at Byerley Park, so having a look at the track this morning will have set him up nicely for Saturday.
“He’s had right-handed experience in Queensland and the StrathAyr surface is familiar given he’s a winner at Moonee Valley.
“They timed him to run his last 600m in less than 36 (35.65s officially), which was all he needed to do on top of the trip over.”
Jigsaw, a seven-year-old gelding by Manhattan Rain, is in the form of his life with wins at his last three starts, the second of those being the Gr.2 McEwen Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day.
He won The Meteorite by three-quarters of a length over Railway rival Arkansaw Kid, who has accompanied Hayes Racing’s Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) candidate Torture to Auckland. They worked together at Ellerslie, timed for their last 600m in 36.52 without being pressured.
The Liam Birchley-trained Karaka Millions 2YO pair Dream Roca and Vanzadee were ridden in solo gallops by Sam Collett, who reported that they both got through their task well.
“The chestnut filly (Vanzadee) ran quicker time (36.51) and the other horse just strolled around (in 39.18), but they both had a good look at their surroundings and given they’ve just got off the plane they felt good,” Collett said.
One of the most scrutinised horses at the Ellerslie gallops was Well Written, the hot favourite for the Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m), who pleased trainer Stephen Marsh in her hitout with stablemate The Exponent, clocking 34.81 for the final 600m.
“I thought she worked up very well, I really couldn’t be happier with her,” Marsh said. “She just needed an outing as she’s been very relaxed at home, so this works out perfectly for her.
“Matt said he was ultra happy with her, and now that we’ve got her where we want her, it’s just a matter of counting the days to the weekend.”

I see the rail is out 8m...probably to avoid all the trees that are down in the region ! 😬🙃

Soft 6 at 9am today.
Incredible really - 61mm of rain in the last 24 hours and 171mm in the last 7 days.
It would be a bog in the pre Strathayr days.

Soft 6 at 9am today.
Incredible really - 61mm of rain in the last 24 hours and 171mm in the last 7 days.
It would be a bog in the pre Strathayr days.

Don't get too excited. I'd be expecting a large amount of scratching's on Saturday morning. We could have some very small fields there.

I'll make sure I update how our team is going as well so that can be a bit of fun on the day to see who get's the upper hand.
Also, I purchased 1 too many tickets so if anyone needs one I can transfer one of them...
 

Yes they do seem to be right onto things and give decent reports...good luck Pete for the weekend.

At least you get great insight from your trainer and have an idea where your horse is at .
I got an update the other day where the trainer waffled for 35secs and I came away no more informed .
This is a regular thing  and a complete waste of time , it never used to be like this though .

Soft 6 at 9am today.
Incredible really - 61mm of rain in the last 24 hours and 171mm in the last 7 days.
It would be a bog in the pre Strathayr days.

I'm always suspicious when they do this that they're holding back on telling people how the track is in the hope that it will improve.

I'm always suspicious when they do this that they're holding back on telling people how the track is in the hope that it will improve.

I'm always suspicious when they do this that they're holding back on telling people how the track is in the hope that it will improve.

Soft 6 at 9am today.
Incredible really - 61mm of rain in the last 24 hours and 171mm in the last 7 days.
It would be a bog in the pre Strathayr days.

Soft 6 at 9am today.
Incredible really - 61mm of rain in the last 24 hours and 171mm in the last 7 days.
It would be a bog in the pre Strathayr days.

I'll be contacting those who've shown an interest a week before the day of the comp.
We can then get firm numbers and work out how much everyone needs to contribute.
It will be going into my bank account and then to the Betcha account I've nominated for the day.
There will be full transparency of everything done on the day.

I'll be contacting those who've shown an interest a week before the day of the comp.
We can then get firm numbers and work out how much everyone needs to contribute.
It will be going into my bank account and then to the Betcha account I've nominated for the day.
There will be full transparency of everything done on the day.

We need to make sure Alf's team don't get the better of us.

We need to make sure Alf's team don't get the better of us.

We need to make sure Alf's team don't get the better of us.

Of course.

Yeeehaaa lets do some winning.......🤣

Good luck!

Of course.

c1d6153091d640debe27682a78f80c74 (1).mp3    
  
 

c1d6153091d640debe27682a78f80c74 (1).mp3