Bartley looking for a ‘final four’

The TAB Championships that have run qualifying heats throughout the state over the past fortnight are proving a huge success with punters.

When racing concludes at Newcastle tonight, 28 qualifying heats will have been run with Wagga attracting the biggest number of horses for the Riverina Championships.

The Metropolitan Championship heats were contested at Tabcorp Park Menangle, while Bathurst was the venue for the western region.

And it will be a mammoth four days next week when the four $100,000 Group 1 Finals will be held, giving both patrons and punters a real treat.

Wagga trainer Luke Mulley and his partner Jess Prior will be chasing a second spot in the Riverina TAB Championships Final with in-form pacer Sports Candy in Race 6 at the Riverina Paceway this afternoon.

The mare has won two on the bounce and has been in a rich vein of form this season, running a further ten placings from just 15 outings.

Last week Mulley and Prior qualified Swaggie Shannon for the Group 1 and it would be a huge feat for them to have two runners as they only train a handful of horses.

Ellen Bartley already has two pacers into Sunday week’s feature race and this afternoon she has a further two live chances to extend that number to four.

Nomorelying and Forever Yin were both impressive winners in their respective heats and Bartley has odds-on favourite Rossini engaged in Heat 7.

The gelding led last week and weakened into third placing.

But he will benefit from the outing, which was his first in a month.

Rocky Branach is the second runner for the Bartley-Jones combination and his effort to be narrowly beaten last week was full of merit.

Tonight, the attention turns to the International Paceway in Newcastle for the TAB Championships and prominent Sydney reinsman, Robert Morris has drives in three of the four heats.

He is aboard The Choreographer, which was a well beaten third last week at his first run in six weeks.

Morris will drive La La Bron for trainer Aaron Goadsby in Race 2.

The mare ran fourth in the Australian Pacing Gold Final two starts back and should be hard to toss from gate two.

His third drive comes up in Race 3 aboard the Clayton Harmey-trained Max Power, which is close to a win.

• MICHAEL DUMESNY