In Brief
- Top class racing awaits in Hobart on Thursday night.
- Wynburn Sheean leads the local charge for the Group 1 series.
- W.A. dog Tommy Shelby is the all-in favourite for the final.
Group 3 Devonport Chase winner Wynburn Sheean has ticked all the right boxes according to his trainer Ben Englund as the duo prepare take on the best of Australia’s sprinters in the Group 1 Ladbrokes Hobart Thousand series, which kicks off with seven superb heats in Hobart on Thursday night.
The mighty son of Aston Dee Bee and She’s All Class had put on a brilliant galloping exhibition in Hobart last Thursday when scoring by almost three lengths over Rivergum Road in a sizzling 25.73 seconds.
“Wynburn Sheean is certainly racing in the best form of his career,” trainer Ben Englund stated.
“The dog is definitely one of the most exciting chasers we’ve had in the kennel, he knows how to handle a field and every obstacle that comes in his path, which gives you the extra confidence going into a big series like the Hobart Thousand that he can handle all types of pressure.
“Age wise he is now just over two years of age which you expect dogs’ to really hit their full racing peak, all we’ve done is made sure the dog has been sound in every start and he has done the rest,” added the trainer.
The Wynyard based trainer is fully aware of the quality of the field Wynburn Sheean will face in the opening heat of the Hobart Thousand on Thursday night, which will come with a few challenges he will need to overcome.
Wynburn Sheean, a winner of 10 races from 13 career starts, is currently the $1.85 favourite with Ladbrokes jumping from box eight, Victorian sprinter Aston Ulysses (Box four) the second favourite at $3 with Amy Cora next best in the betting market at $5.50 jumping from box two.
“Drawing box eight is a huge plus though Explosive Drums (box seven) is noted in wanting to get up the track so he will need to motor to overcome it. I’m confident he will run well,” Englund said.
“At the end of the day it all comes down to luck in these big races, Wynburn Sheean has pulled up well and looks to be in real great order heading into Thursday so we’ll what the outcome will be.”
The Wynburn Racing Syndicate will line up a total of three runners in Tasmania’s biggest group class race across all three codes including Wynburn Express (Heat 2 – Box 6) and Wynburn Lethal (Heat 7 – Box 3) rated $26 and $5 chances in their respective heats of the $75,000 time-honoured event.
W.A. star Tommy Shelby is racing in blazing form and coming off a scorching trial at his first look at the track running 25.48 last week, the Steve Withers-trained chaser is the outright race favourite for the series final.
The seven heat winners along with the second fastest placegetter will progress through to the final.
Ladbrokes have an all-in market for the Group 1 final staged on Thursday 17th December
- Tommy Shelby ($3.40)
- Tiggerlong Tonk ($3.60)
- Paua Of Oscar ($7.00)
- Shadow Mist ($7.00)
- Aston Ulysses ($13.00)
- Wynburn Sheean ($13.00)
- Amy Cora ($17.00)
- Recall ($17.00)
Thursday’s meeting will be live hosted on TasracingTV by Matt Reid and Brennan Ryan with the first race scheduled for 19:19.
Watch Wynburn Sheean (Box 5) score a resounding victory in Hobart last Thursday night.