Best Yet To Come From Brilliant In The Hub

PRODIGIOUS young talent In The Hub will be on trial for the Group 1 Silver Chief when he lines up on a star-studded Sandown Park program on Saturday night.

Trained by Shona Crawford, In The Hub increased his standing as one of the brightest up and coming stars of the sport with a thumping 29.13 Sandown Park heat victory last Thursday, extending his record to four wins from six career starts.

The son of Fernando Bale now tackles Saturday night's $10,000-to-the-winner VicGreys Restricted Win Final (515m) before more than likely embarking on a Silver Chief raid at The Meadows in the next fortnight.

"He had a slip at Sandown on Tuesday morning and went terrific so he's good to go for Saturday night," Crawford said.

"Being honest, his 29.13 run last Thursday did surprise me a bit. The times on the night weren't lightning fast and I would have been happy if he went around the 29.30 mark.

"To run what he did showed he's improving all the time. He's definitely exciting so hopefully he stays sound and we're going to have a bit of fun.”

By champion sire Fernando Bale out of the well-bred Accused, In The Hub is owned by Robert Thompson who has been a friend of David and Shona Crawford for the best part of 40 years.

"Robert bought Accused and asked if we'd help breed a litter from her," Crawford added.

"She had the six, two dogs and four bitches, and early on they took a while to find their way, they weren't overly keen.

"We then sent them to Dave Knockers and the penny began to drop and In The Hub in particular has just kept going on with it and improving.

"His Sale wins to run the record at the time on the new track were very good and at his first Sandown run he had no luck at all.

"The best thing about him is that each time he races you can tell he's learning and getting better. When they're pups it's hard to get the field experience into them so they need to learn on the run.

“We've actually got a second litter out of her – a repeat mating to Fernando Bale – and they are 12 months old.”

While the Crawfords immediate attention is on Sandown Park this Saturday night with their gun youngster, the plan is to target the heats of the age-restricted Group 1 Silver Chief (525m) at The Meadows the following week.

"He hasn't raced at The Meadows but we've given him some education there – we always give our pups looks at the city tracks as they're coming through," Crawford said.

"He actually turns two on Christmas Eve so he's not really a baby and the Silver Chief looks like the right race for him. But we'll get through Saturday night first and go from there."

In The Hub will exit box three for the Sandown Park finale where he will take a distinct time advantage into the race over his rivals.