I Didnt Do It will be be vying for a spot in the final of the Trotters Derby Heat when the heat is run at Cranbourne.A SPOT in the $75,000 Group 1 final might seem reward enough, but Michael Taranto has added incentive to win the Victoria Trotters Derby heat at Cranbourne on Saturday 12 July with I Didnt Do It.
Not only is Taranto’s company, Seelite Windows and Doors, the sponsor of this year’s Victoria Trotters Derby; the harness racing devotee is also a member of the Cranbourne Harness Racing Club (CHRC) committee.
It is therefore easy to understand why Taranto is eager to showcase the emerging star of his big team of trotters in the third and final $10,000 heat at Cranbourne.
“The intention is to run him at Cranbourne, but if we nominate for one of the other heats first and find that one or two of what we consider to be the smarter ones don’t go that way then we might go there,” Taranto said.
“So we can’t really say he’s definitely going to be at Cranbourne that night, but our preference is to be running there.”
The presence of I Didnt Do It would add some local star power to the CHRC’s Christmas In July meeting.
The Merv Williamson-trained gelding announced himself a leading Derby contender when he upstaged the likes of reigning Breeders Crown champion Danny Bouchea and New South Wales Trotters Derby winner Lord Of The Gym in the Group 3 The Holmfield at Moonee Valley on 6 June.
I Didnt Do It is yet to miss a place from seven starts and has collected $36,325 in prize money.
The Cranbourne event is the last chance for horses to qualify for the prestigious final at Maryborough on Sunday 20 July, with other heats to be run at Bendigo this Saturday and Ballarat on 10 July.
With just the first three from each heat, along with the two fastest fourth-placegetters, assured their spot in the Derby final, the Cranbourne race is certain to have more a cutthroat feel with horses who didn’t fill a top-three hole at Bendigo hoping to exercise a second chance.
Whichever path Williamson decides to take with the son of Sundon, it will be the gelding’s first run since winning The Holmfield.
“We could have gone over to the South Australian Derby (on 21 June) where we knew the nominations were going to be fairly skinny, however we thought that because we’d finally drawn the front row (in The Holmfield) we wanted to make use of that and wind him up for that race,” Taranto said.
“That race panned out to perfection and now we’ve been able to give him a little freshen up.
“He’ll go straight to the Derby heats and, all going well, straight through to the Derby (final).”
The Trotters Derby Heat is just one leg of a bumper night of trotting action at Cranbourne on 12 July.
The open-age square gaiters will go around in the Cranbourne Trainers Bonanza Trotters Handicap.
It might only be worth $5000, but trainers have plenty of incentive to target their horses towards this event with the winning conditioner to go into the draw to win a trip for two to one of the world’s premier harness racing events.
But it isn’t just a night for the square gaiters. The meeting will also feature Cranbourne’s $6000 heat of the Eastern Zone Grand Slam.
An event restricted to three-year-olds, the Grand Slam comprises heats at Yarra Valley (7 July), Kilmore (9 July) and Cranbourne ahead of a lucrative $15,000 final and $7500 consolation at Warragul on 17 July.
Final fields for the eight-event program at Cranbourne will be available on Tuesday afternoon 8 July with the first race on the Saturday night set to be run at 6.30pm.
