By Geoff Newling
Bullet Kid may have drawn a poor barrier (15) and have topweight (60kg) but the Tamworth gelding will take some beating when he steps out in Tuesday’s $20,000 Corey’s Catering Class 2 Handicap (1400m).
The Craig Martin-trained four-year-old son of Bite The Bullet is coming off a brilliant win at Armidale where he won a 1400m Class 1 by a widening 2.3 lengths.
It completed a seven-race run where he failed to finish worse than third.
His win at Armidale was an emphatic one and suggests the gelding can go on to enjoy success in some nice races.
That’s the same position Martin’s talented and lightly raced mare, Jahanara, finds herself in.
She will also be ridden by Peter Graham but has drawn better (9) than her stablemate although she has her fair share of weight to carry (58kg) on a Good 4 surface.
Storms are forecast for the region but Tamworth Jockey Club general manager Damon Sullivan hopes the worst of the weather will miss the track.
“We’ve got good fields,” he said. “It will be a good day if the rains stays away.”
“The Corey’s Catering Class 2 will be an absolute cracker of a race.”
Bullet Kid faces opposition from the likes of Whirlwind Ascent (Mark Schmetzer), Aristograts (Greg Bennett) and last start winner Ti Tan Tiger (Geoff O’Brien).
Four-year-old gelding Whirlwind Ascent was a last start third to Art D’Amour in the Country Championships Preview at Scone when beaten less than a length. He’s won two from nine starts and that includes a victory at Tamworth.
Aristograts is also a Tamworth winner when he produced an amazing last to first finish to claim victory over 1000m before going to Sydney to run fourth to Sue Grills’ Fickle Folly in a Highway Handicap.
Ti Tan Tiger, a five-year-old chestnut son of Where’s That Tiger, has taken a while to find his racing feet for Geoff O’Brien.
He resumed with a good second at Gilgandra before saluting at Quirindi on Cup day for his Quirindi trainer.