Screaming Chop On Song For City Debut

CENTRAL Coast speedster Screaming Chop has been given all the grounding possible for her Wentworth Park debut by trainer Troy Donaldson, declaring the daughter of Black Magic Opal "ready to go" for her first up city assignment this Saturday night.

Blessed with tremendous early dash, the catalyst for beginning her career with nine explosive wins from 14 starts, Screaming Chop will tackle the second event at Wentworth Park this Saturday night over the 520m from box five, her first start since scoring at Maitland over the 400m on February 28, overcoming trouble in a fair 22.54.

"I expect her to be a long way in front, but the last bit will be the worry," said Donaldson on Thursday.

"I've given her two box-to-boxes at Wenty and she's gone really good. I'd expect she'll run around 5.45 early and 13.80 down the back which you would think should have her right out in front.

"I'd say at the moment 30.30 would pull her up but she's only 22 months old and she just keeps improving, which is the main thing."

Quoted by Bet365 as a $3.60 equal favourite with last start 30.18 Wenty winner Violet Road, Screaming Chop is expected to make light work of box five early, with Donaldson admitting he'll be as keen as anyone to see how his progressive youngster finds the line at her first city test.

"I broke her in and she pretty much just plodded right the way through that, she wasn't showing a great deal to be honest," added Donaldson.

"She never had a lot of trials before she started racing, she's just improved by the week which is what you want to see.

"She's a good little chaser as well so she'll be giving her all on Saturday, even when she is getting tired the last 20-30 metres. Box five actually suits her as well, there's a bit of speed inside her but nothing that should worry her on her outside. As I said, I expect her to be out in front, we'll just have to see how she finds the line."

On a top night of racing, as we edge closer to the heats of the Ladbrokes Group 1 Golden Easter Egg now just a fortnight away, plenty of eyes will be on Fantastic Winnie in the opener for trainer Jason Fletcher.

Backing up last Thursday week's sizzling 29.65 Dapto success with a 15 ¼ length 29.87 Nowra victory on Monday, the daughter of Fabregas returns to Wentworth Park with a head full of steam, and should take plenty of beating from box three, looking to get punters off on the right note.

The staying event of the night, race three on the card, sees six very accomplished chasers line-up, including Two Times Twice for John Finn, a Gosford winner over the 710m on Tuesday in 41.32 – the fastest time recorded since the new track opened.

The son of Fernando Bale tackles the classy Little Digger and the Peter Mantach-trained White Sox Ethics, the daughter of Bella Infrared drawing box one for the first time since last August. Amazingly she's drawn boxes 5-8 at her last 11 appearances, so should appreciate the inside trap on Saturday.