Nathan was pleased with nearly all Tuesday’s triallists but two seemed to give an extra buzz.
One was Bollinger and the sharpness he showed in his trial win could accelerate his race plan out of the normal All Stars routine.
Traditionally the stable runners have two trials before racing as standard procedure. Nathan is now thinking he will cut that down to one and send Bollinger to the races in the next couple of weeks.
“He’s a clean winded horse and we were expecting that he wouldn’t take long to come up. But the way he went today he’s done it even quicker than we expected. I will be looking for the right race for him now.
“We did a heart score on him after the heat and it confirmed a quick recovery. So he probably doesn’t need another trial”
Bollinger has had mixed fortunes over the last 12 months and was put aside in the spring after racing below peak. Earlier in the year he had been runner up to Akuta in both the Alabar Classic and the Woodlands Derby for Jean Feiss, who has bought two further siblings at successive sales.
Bollinger ran a comfortable 3.04.7 in the hands of Samantha Ottley home in 27.3 ahead of stablemate Dare Devil. It wasn’t the fastest tme of the day but he did it well.
Earlier Eyeliner had a length over Waterfront going a mile just out of qualifying time but better for the experience . But their stablemates were more urgent with a qualifying ticket to chase. Vessem and Major Hot ran identical 2.11.5 mile times to do that and the trotters We Can Have It All and High Step went safely under the qualifying time as well. Look To Da Stars couldn’t match that at this stage but is likely to be given time to mature.Fortify continued sharp progress with a maiden win heat.