Bigeni Buy ‘Ticking' Along Nicely

VETERAN trainer Paul Bigeni is quietly confident that a change in fortune with box draws can trigger a return to the winners' list for recent kennel acquisition His Ticking.

Purchased for "good" money by Bigeni from previous owner/trainer Mark Suttle in May, His Ticking has faced the starter on just the two occasions for his new trainer, finishing fifth and third in recent Wentworth Park appearances.

"I paid good money for him but I won't say how much – you have to pay good money for good dogs," said Bigeni in the lead up to Saturday night.

"I didn't know a lot about the dog before I got him, a friend of mine mentioned he might be worth trying to get hold of … so I made an offer to Mark (Suttle) and we ended up on a price.

“I thought his run on Saturday night to finish third was very good – he copped it in the run a couple of times and it was just his second 500 since May. I was happy."

A July ‘17 son of Barcia Bale and Lover's Quarrel, His Ticking has scored at three of his eight career appearances, including a smart 30.21 victory in a semi-final of the Group 3 Magic Maiden (520m) at Wentworth Park in April.

His other two wins have been at Dapto – both from box one – in 30.01 and 30.17 respectively.

"I don't trial my dogs  – I just work them up the straight so he'll definitely be fitter this week for his past two runs," added 82-year old Bigeni, who has been training for the best part of five decades.

"I've taken a bit of weight off the dog and he seems happy enough, I'm still working him out but I expect him to run a race on Saturday … he's drawn well but the eight (Shanjo Prince) will be hard to beat, it's a strong race." 

Unbeaten in two previous box one appearances, His Ticking is currently a $5.50 chance with Bet365 for the opening event at headquarters this Saturday night, with the Mark Gatt-trained Shanjo Prince a hot $1.80 favourite from box eight.

"I've only got the two dogs here at home and they're what keep me going, I'm 82 you know?" added Bigeni.

"Every few days I'm at Richmond slipping track with the dogs' at 6am – as I said I don't trial and overwork them. I'll be happy if he fills a place but the main thing is that he doesn't get hurt – that's always the most important things."

Click here for Saturday night's Wentworth Park form

While the feature race spotlight this Saturday night will be firmly fixed on The Meadows for the Group 1 Maturity Classic Final (525m), some talented types are shaping up at Wentworth Park also across the 10-race program.

In race two, Tennessee Tiger, a litter-brother to opening race favourite Shanjo Prince looks terribly hard to beat from box one, while in race four, the Rob Tyler-trained Zipping Truvy looks close enough to a good thing from box one.

A recent finalist in the Group 1 Peter Mosman Opal, if Zipping Truvy wins like most anticipate, eyes will quickly turn to the semaphore board to see what time the daughter of Zulu Zeus has recorded.

A gripping clash looms in race eight of the night, with Good Odds Harada and Jamella Jet locking horns from boxes one and eight respectively.

Both group winners at the track, it's shaping up as a terrific race, where the duo are expected to dominate betting.