Tasracing

Promising four-year-old Sunny Sanz returns to the track after a four-month spell in Sunday’s Maxfield Drilling Meander Valley Cup at Carrick Park.

The Kent Rattray trained pacer won his first three starts as a two-year-old before spending 13 months away from the track due to injury.

It didn’t take long for the gelded son of Sportswriter to pick up where he left off winning four of his five starts last season including the Group 2 Globe Derby Stakes in Launceston in July.

Sunny Sanz will start off a 10-metre handicap in Sunday’s $12,000 feature and Rattray is happy with the pacers fitness for his first-up assignment.

“He has had plenty of work and a trial this time in and I’m happy with where he is at,” said Kent Rattray.

That trial was at Carrick Park on 9 December where he defeated All Style Sammy by two metres in a mile rate of 2m 5.8s, however, despite Rattray being happy with the fitness of Sunny Sanz he does have one reservation heading into the 2650 metre standing start event.

“The big question is going over the longer distance, he has been going over 2600 metres at home for two or three times a week for the last five weeks but race day pressure is always different,” explained the trainer.

Sunny Sanz has been driven by John Walters in all of his eight starts but will he will have the services of hall of fame reinsman Gareth Rattray in the sulky on Sunday while Walters is sidelined through injury.

“He won’t lose anything with Gareth (Rattray) on him, we would always love to have John (Walters) on him but unfortunately that won’t be the case for the next few weeks,” said the Lietinna based trainer.

Rattray admits that he has respect for several horses in the race but singled out Ideal World as the hardest to beat.

Ideal World is prepared by South Australian trainer Aaron Bain who campaigned the pacer in the state in the recent Tassie Golden Apple series where he finished an unlucky second to Ryley Major in the $30,000 Final last Saturday.

Bain indicated that the seven-year-old gelding would be targeted at some country cups in the state before returning home.

The Carrick Park card also sees the running of the $10,000 Cressy Transport Tasmanian Country Championship for the three-year-olds where last start Hobart winner Soho Senna and talented filly Tilly Max look the main two chances despite drawing the second line.

Another feature on the card is the Bramich Bulldozing Trainers Encouragement Final, where the winning trainer will win a missile race sulky.

Heats of the race were staged at the clubs first meeting on 1 December where Cardinal Ringo and Mister Gently were the two heat winners.

Mister Gently has been racing in good form winning two races since that effort with the most recent victory in Devonport on Thursday in the North West Plate Final.

As always the club secured strong nominations which saw the club contribute a large portion of prize-money into the final race of the day which will result in a nine-race card being staged that commences at 16:02.

The first three races will be televised on Sky Racing 2 with the remainder of the card on Sky Racing 1.