By Andrew Smith
Two more of Australia’s top pacers have been confirmed for the Group 1 RacingandSports.com.au The Rising Sun.
Earlier today, it was announced that Group 1 champions Captains Knock and Lux Aeterna will line up in the $355,000 race at Albion Park on July 13, as part of the Queensland Constellations.
They will join fellow stars The Lost Storm and Frankie Ferocious as confirmed starters, with Its Merlin and Sooner The Bettor unfortunately being withdrawn from the race.
Emerging New South Wales pacer Captains Knock has 12 wins from 25 starts, with victories in the Group 1 NSW Breeders Challenge 2YO and 3YO C&G finals in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
The colt also finished third in March’s Group 1 Chariots Of Fire at Menangle, and has also been locked in for the world’s richest pacing race, the $2.1 million TAB Eureka on September 7.
Captains Knock is owned by the Triple Play Syndicate, which includes former NRL star Jarrod Croker.
Trainer-driver Brad Hewitt said the four-year-old would trial down south before heading north, with a possible hit-out in Queensland on the cards before The Rising Sun.
“It’s been his target ever since the Chariots Of Fire, we’ve had this race in mind for him - it’s a good little campaign for him before he aims up to The Eureka,” Hewitt said.
“It’s always a really strong race - since its inception, there’s been really good horses and you know you’re going there to come up against the best of the best.
“It’s similar to the Chariots, you know there’s going to be a top field.
“There’s some really strong four-year-olds in Queensland at the minute, plus all the interstate ones coming in, so it’s going to be a really good race.”