It looks like a continuation of dining out on the town for All Stars this week as Thursday (Auckland) and Friday (Addington) see a round dozen of the team, most of them headed for even bigger things, lining up their platters , sometimes against each other, and with Natalie taking a leading role at both venues, Mark being sidelined after the Taylor Mile.
Alexandra Park on Thursday sees the unbeaten High Interest take on the Park for the first time in the Northern Trotting Oaks while younger sister High Step lines up in a Young Guns Trotting heat. One of her toughest rivals will be We Can Have It All which was comfortably in front of her debut at Addington when she shied at the winning post.Blair Orange will be ensuring nothing like that ruins her chances this time.
High Step has yet to race but three trials have given her a leg up on the experience stakes and it is rare for an All Star youngster to be beaten on the score of experience. If she is there is always a stablemate to take up the slack
Also on the menu is a Sires Stakes Fillies Heat featuring Millwood Nike, Fortify and Mon Lancome. They only have three rivals which seems to be a sign of the times. And it is quite possible they could be the first three.
The stable debut of Anything Goes will probably attract most interest at Addington given he won the Superstars Championship at his last start with new All Stars employee Devon Van Til in the cart for Steve Dolan and has now won six of his 15 starts. This will be his debut for a partnership led by Gordon Banks and Marc Hanover who have recently purchased him.
“Nathan has had him about three days and all seems to be going to plan” Mark said at the weekend.
However the debut of Bronson should not be overlooked, Mark noting some time ago he could be a star among the Vincent youngsters in the stable this season. Then there is rising trotting star Paramount Princess and the “three musketeers” in the Sires Stakes heat, Don’t Stop Dreaming, Sinbad and Vinke B. All in all a tasty menu for the night
And,of course, apart from the Trotting Oaks most of the team is only on the entrees qualifying them for some bigger feasts when finals come around.
PIC: VINKE B one of the three Sires Stakes Musketeers at Addington