During his countless laps on the training track this week, Shane Tritton has allowed his mind to wander.
Albeit, just a little.
The Menangle based trainer has been based in the Sunshine State this week applying the finishing touches to his freakishly fast juvenile star Muscle Factory who is a dominant favourite to claim the Gr.1 $100,450 Albion Park Gold Brisbane Sales Graduate 2yo Final this Saturday night at Albion Park.
Fresh from his brutal yet scintillating local debut last week when he set tongues wagging with his explosive display of raw speed at his unbridled best when he scorched around the Breakfast Creek oval in a time of 1:54.1 with a final split of 26.6 seconds while winning by an ever expanding margin.
It was simply breathtaking.
So, ahead of this weekend’s feature, there have been a number of things racing through the mind of Tritton.
It will be vindication mixed with satisfaction.
Tritton went hard for the Roll With Joe colt earlier this year after watching him perform from the adjoining Menangle stables of Rickie Alchin, he persuaded his clients Clive and Rona McKay to purchase a majority share while Dayna Kahlefeldt remained in the ownership group.
Muscle Factory has won 4 of his 8 starts to date and is currently at near unbackable odds with UBET for Saturday’s event.
UBET went up $1.15 on the star colt and with that quickly snapped up; he has firmed to $1.10.
“He’s a special talent; he could’ve eclipsed the two-year-old track record if we knew about it and his work this week indicated he will be a little sharper again. This is his Grand Final and he’s off to the paddock straight after the weekend.” Tritton said.
Will Muscle Factory score his maiden Gr.1 victory? Will he break the 2yo track record? And will Lauren Tritton (wife) remain in contact with Luke McCarthy in the Sydney metropolitan premiership race after passing on drives this weekend to drive in Brisbane?
That’s a quick snapshot of things racing through the mind of Tritton this week.
And then there’s another matter.
Can the Tritton name score feature race victories on both sides of globe?
His father Peter, now firmly entrenched in North America, has his stable star Bit Of A Legend starting in the $US325,000 Dan Patch at Hoosier Park in Indiana where he takes on Australasian superstar Lazarus in his first start on foreign soil since being sold earlier this year.
Bit Of A Legend, a former star juvenile for Cran Dalgety with multiple feature race victories throughout Australasia, has been a revelation since being under the care of Tritton in North America and has now banked in excess of $2.3 million.
The Bettors Delight entire is raced by Harry von Knoblauch.
Regular reinsman Jordan Stratton will take the lines behind the star pacer.
“I know he’s happy with the way he’s going, his recent form is solid and he’s a last start winner at Yonkers in an Open Pace so he’ll be in the mix.
“Has it ever been done before? Has a father/son feature race double on different sides of the globe ever been achieved before? It sounds crazy but just imagine if we both won our races, it would be an extremely proud moment.”
The North American feature is scheduled for approximately 11.50am AEST while the Albion Park feature is set for 8.10pm.
Chris Barsby | RQ Web News | August 9