Cutlack eyes improvement in Mitchell Street ahead of Golden Easter Egg semi-finals

By Jordan Gerrans

Jedda Cutlack is optimistic Golden Easter Egg hopeful Mitchell Street will be faster out of the boxes in his second go around Wentworth Park on Saturday night in the Group 1's semi-finals.

The son of Fernando Bale was the first heat winner of the 2022 Golden Easter Egg last weekend, finishing the 520-metre trip in 30.21 seconds.

Most of the heat winners were under 30 seconds later in the evening and Park Ridge South trainer Cutlack knows Mitchell Street will need to improve once again in this week’s semi-finals.

While the light fawn dog had a post-to-post at the track earlier this month, the heat victory was his first look at Wentworth Park under race conditions and Cutlack believes he will only get better in his second viewing, especially out of the boxes.

Mitchell Street came out a few strides slower than the rest of the field on Saturday evening before making his way around them not long after they went past the winning post for the first time.

“He can begin better than he did in the heats, he did not come out as quick as he can,” Cutlack said of the heat run where he jumped from box eight.

“He has got to come out better, last week was not easy in the heats and this week is going to be even harder.

“That was his first go out of the boxes there and he should improve, hopefully, and it looks like he will improve.

“He just has to do it now.”

After a recent trip south of the border targeted at the Group 2 Maitland Gold Cup, the kennel decided to press on to Wentworth Park with not many options for the dog in Queensland at the moment.

Mitchell Street led in the 450-metre final at Maitland for much of the journey before eventually finishing fifth.

Frank Hurst, who prepared Maitland Gold Cup winner Good Odds Cash, said post-race that Mitchell Street was a dog with “blistering speed”.

The kennel were uncertain following the Monday evening Maitland race if they would press on to Wentworth Park less than a week later for the Golden Easter Egg series but Cutlack was pleased with the decision in hindsight.

“It was disappointing when he managed to lead so well in the Maitland Cup Final and then with the rain down there, we were unsure if we would start him as he is not the strongest dog so a wet track would not have suited him,” Cutlack said.

“We left him in and we are glad that we did.

“For him to still push through and hold on like he did on Saturday night, I thought for sure he was going to get run down when the other dog was sitting behind him.

“He did us proud.”

Mitchell Street progresses through to the semi-finals this Saturday evening where he will be out to book a berth in the Group 1 Final seven days later.

Mitchell Street is a chaser who handles the travel away from his Queensland kennel well, Cutlack says.

Equalizer - the Brisbane Cup winner from last year - and Louis Rumble, who won the Group 2 Ipswich Gold Cup in 2021, were also heat winners for the Golden Easter Egg on Saturday night. 

It was a massive night for Cutlack last Saturday night, the emerging trainer winning a heat of the Golden Easter Egg just hours before she claimed the Listed Ipswich Young Guns Final.

Also from a Fernando Bale litter, Tungsten Miss scored the second black-type event of her young career, just months after winning the Group 2 Bogie Leigh Futurity Final at Albion Park.

The brindle bitch now boasts 11 victories from 13 starts in the early stages of her racing journey and the trainer couldn’t be prouder of her efforts.

“She did very well,” Cutlack said.

“She had a few strong dogs behind her that she did not let catch her, it is almost like that she knows when they are coming and she gets another go of energy.

“She is getting stronger now too as she is getting older, she is showing more strength than she was when she started off, which is always a good sign.

“It was nice to come out on top.”

Tungsten Miss will now head towards the Ipswich Auction Series Heats on Saturday night over the 520-metre journey.

“Hopefully she can keep beginning well in her races in that series,” Cutlack said.

Tungsten Miss was unable to qualify for the final of the Ipswich Auction Sprint Series Final over the shorter 431-metre trip earlier this year after missing the jump as a short-priced favourite in the semi-finals.