Adhana Rico ready for Eastar Match Race Test
Adhana Rico Ready To Roll In Eastar Match Races
An excellent Easter Thursday card has been drawn together at Angle Park, with two high quality feature events to take centre stage.
The annual Eastar match races are always an exciting event on the South Australian calendar and this year's event shouldn’t be any different.
Past winners of the race have been Could Be King (2023), Fantastic Victor (2022) and Alfieri (2020), with an even mix of chasers hoping to be crowned the 2024 champion.
This year's race looks set to revolve around some of the better quality sprinters in the state, that being Adhana Rico, Riot Rooster and Victa Marli, who have established themselves already. Amongst this, there will be some younger chasers, with Fantastic Ada and Woodside Johnny both hoping to match it with their more experienced rivals.
Adhana Rico will go into the event on Thursday as favourite, coming off a sensational Murray Bridge Cup win at his last start, where he ran his rivals ragged en route to a flying 25.22 victory. That win came at just his second run back following a six week break, which was due to his trainer Cameron Forshaw thinking that he was due for a well earned rest.
“He had a fair time of top grade racing and contesting bigger races, so we decided to just give him a rest and refuel the tanks ahead of another eight weeks of week to week racing and travelling.” said Forshaw
“He came back from his break as good as anything. His first look at Murray Bridge in a trial was fantastic and he followed up nicely the week after. He seems to take a couple looks at a track to really understand it but I think he showed his true experience and professionalism when winning the cup.”
Adhana Rico has been a dominant force in South Australia over the last six months and he will be hoping to cap off the period by taking out the Eastar series. Worth $6000 to the winner, the event will see 4 x 2 dog match races, with the dog that runs the fastest time, being crowned the winner. Adhana Rico will take on My Khaleesi in his match race and Forshaw will be hoping to see him get a clean run early, so that he can produce his best.
“I think that it’s a great race for him as we are planning to take him to Mount Gambier, so we didn’t want to push him too hard, so a match race is as good as anything we could’ve had. I think he might have to work for the lead going through the first corner, but he’s a smart dog and very experienced, so he knows when to move and when to take an opening.” said Forshaw
“I think there are a few very interesting races in the match race series with some dogs that will definitely be suited to the style of racing. If he were able to clear My Khaleesi early enough and go untouched on the right track, I believe he could improve on his personal best, but he’s not necessarily the fastest dog here, but he is showing fantastic racing manners.
Away from the Eastar match race series, the final of the 2024 Eastar Cup will be held over 600m. Last week's heats were terrific and Tim Aloisi will have a strong hand in the final, with the three main chances being dogs that he trains, those being Like Wildfire, Zipping Neutron and Triumph. The Bosko Stamnekovic trained Magical Mystic will be hoping to upset the trio, following her strong 34.50 heat win. Like Wildfire was excellent in his heat, winning in a fast 34.16 and if he gets a clean run early, then he will prove very hard to catch.
Racing will start at 6:40pm on a terrific evening of racing!
Best Bets:
Elegant Bix (Race 5, Number 1)
Zinfandel Evie (Race 11, Number 3)