Eureka Favouritism on the Line at Melton

FAVOURITISM in the world’s richest harness race is on the line at Melton on Saturday night.

Bay Of Biscay ($3.50) and Fighter Command ($5) head prepost markets for the $2.1mil TAB Eureka at Menangle on September 6 and they lock horns in a pivotal clash in the opening race, the IRT free-for-all (1720m) at Melton.

Remarkably, it’s the first time two of the brightest young Australasian pacing stars have clashed.

While Fighter Command has the better of the barrier draws – gate five compared to Bay Of Biscay in nine – his trainer Jess Tubbs played down the significance of this week’s race.

“We’d love to win it, but ultimately it’s another stepping stone towards our Grand Final on September 6, It’s three weeks since he went down to Hobart and won the Beautide,” she said.

“Our boy is racing this week because he needs a run and it fits the schedule. The run will tell us if he needs another race or maybe a trial before the Eureka itself.

“I’d rather it was 2240m, not 1720m, but it’s all about this run showing us where he’s at.”

It’s well documented Fighter Command, who was scratched from last year’s TAB Eureka with a life threatening twisted bowel, is still big, raw and a work in progress.

“He’s getting better, but he is still learning and will be better again in another 12 months, but the prize money is insane and we have to have a crack at it,” Tubbs said.

Tubbs paused when asked whether the four-year-old, who boasts 12 wins from just 21 starts, is ready to win the TAB Eureka.

“Look, he’s got the talent and engine, but there’s so much more that comes into it,” she said. “All I can do is get as well as I possibly can for the race and that’s why racing this week is important.”

Tubbs also baulked at talking tactics for Saturday night’s race.

“I’ll leave that to James (Herbertson, driver),” she said., “That’s because he’s still a big baby, this horse and so much of it will depend on how he feels to James as they score-up at the start.”

Bay Of Biscay, who ran a luckless second in last year’s TAB Eureka, is having his third and final lead-up run at Melton.

Connections weighed-up between going to Menangle again for another lead-up, but opted to stay in Victoria given he’s already been to Sydney last start for a terrific third placing.

Saturday night’s Melton race goes way beyond the TAB Eureka guns.

Eight-time Group 1 winner Catch A Wave is back on target after some hoof issues following his run in the Brisbane Inter Dominion final on July 19.

Catch A Wave (gate eight), former Inter Dominion runner-up Better Eclipse (six) and the emerging Keayang Tokyo (four) are all likely to head to Menangle on TAB Eureka night to tackle the $150,000 Group 1 Len Smith Mile.

The other big TAB Eureka watch runner at Melton is Bay Of Biscay’s exciting three-year-old stablemate Go Miki, who is chasing his sixth win from just 10 starts and his fourth successive win this campaign in race nine.

While Bay Of Biscay already has the Soho Standardbreds slot in the TAB Eureka, Go Miki and other young Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin stars War Dan Buddy and Fox Dan are still sweating on spots in the race.