Flying Trial Has All Hands Off Set For MDC Onslaught

ELLANGOWAN trainer Fred Swain says a comparison of trial times last week can give a strong guide to the chances of his bitch All Hands Off when she takes on the second semi-final of the TAB Million Dollar Chase on Friday night.

The daughter of Barcia Bale and Fay's Magic goes into the semis off her brilliant 29.61 series win at Lismore and takes with her a career of 20 starts for 14 wins.

But it was a 29.79 trial at Wentworth Park last week on a bog track that has Fred Swain bubbling with a degree of confidence.

“She handled the travelling great,” he said.

“But, I put a compression suit on her for the trip and she settled down fantastic.

“Then when she went 29.79 on the heavy track, I was very pleased.

“She handled the track great.

“Ideally I would have liked to give her one more trial there, but time got away on us to do that.”

It is the trial times of hot TAB Million Dollar Chase hopefuls Shima Shine and Flying Ricciardo that has given Fred his confidence in his bitch.

“Both of them trialled at Wentworth Park last week on a good track and both went around the 29.75 mark,” said Fred.

“And, I believe my bitch can improve a lot on her trial time.”

Swain also pointed to his bitch's first section of 5.48 which he says should have her in the firing line by the first turn.

“No, I'm not that happy with the seven box,” he said. “But, if she can get close to them early, we all know how strong she is.”

SOME interesting pedigree stats from the MDC semis (supplied by Casino's premier trainer Mark Wilkes) are: Of the 64 dogs in the semis, they are represented by 25 sires. Nine sires have more than one semi-finalist or 48 semi-finalists which equates to 75%. They are: Fernando Bale 17, Barcia Bale 10, SH Avatar 4, My Bro Fabio 4, Collision 3, Kinloch Brae 3, Dyna Double One 3, Black Magic Opal 2, Cosmic Rumble 2.

Fernando Bale and Barcia Bale have 42 percent of the semi-finalists.

Of the 64 damsires there are 34 different sires with 17 having more than one. Where's Pedro is the top of the list with 6 followed by Collision with 5 and Magic Sprite 4. Brett Lee or his sons are represented by 17. Collision or his sons are represented by 10. Bombastic Shiraz or his sons are represented  by 8. Those three lines make up 55 percent of semi-finalists.