Origin Looms Following “Sennachie Like” Trial

MILLION Dollar Chase winner Handsome Prince confirmed he'll be of the NSW spearheads for the upcoming State Of Origin series with a scorching first look at Albion Park on Thursday night.

The immensely talented son of Sh Avatar and See Blue's Girl from the Peter Lagogiane kennel was slipped post to post before the opening race and went a flying 24.07.

His first section was 11.51 with a run home of 12.51.

Few dogs run that time let alone at their very first test on the Albion Park track.

Lure driver, Craig Nilsson, declared after the trial that Handsome Prince “was absolutely humming down the back straight”.

Nilsson compared the run to Albion Park track record holder Sennachie's post to post run between his win in the Golden Ticket and the final of the Gold Bullion, both of which he won in remarkable style.

“Sennachie slipped post to post on the night of the heats of the Gold Bullion and went 23.98,” said Nilsson.

Sennachie, by winning the Golden Ticket, had already won his way into the final of the Bullion.

General rule of thumb for a post to post at Albion Park is to add 5.5 seconds to the slip time to get an overall 520m time.

The 24.07 Handsome Prince slipped on Thursday night would have him run 29.57 for the 520m distance.

It was Handsome Prince's first public appearance since pulling up injured when fourth to Shima Jake in a heat of the G1 Golden Easter Egg at Wentworth Park on March 27.

Lagogiane admitted at the time he has been in a rush to get Handsome Prince ready for that series, his first hit-out since the Melbourne Cup where he trialled at Sandown in 29.13.

The State Of Origin Sprint (520m) will be run on Thursday, June 17 and is worth $60,000.

On the same night a State Of Origin Match Race (520m) will be run and won as well as a State Of Origin Distance (710m).

The squads for both NSW and QLD will be announced on Friday before being whittled down a week later.

Last week, Lagogiane moved a team of six to Churchable for several weeks while the Queensland Winter Carnival is being staged.

His star bitch Vicki's Queen was trialled over 520m on Thursday night and reeled off a fine 29.91.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon, Victorian stars Lakeview Walter and Lakeview Cruiser both trialled post to post at Albion Park in 24.30.