Leading Dubbo trainer Barry Lew may not have taken out either of the heats he had chances in but he remains in the running in two rich series at Bathurst Paceway.
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Lew had Karloo Damajor and Karloo Threeothree in action at Bathurst in Wednesday night’s heats, and both finished in the top three in their respective races.
That was enough to ensure passage through to Sunday’s finals.
Both Threeothree, in the NSW Breeders Challenge 3YO Colts and Gelding Regional Final, and Damajor in the 4YO Entires and Geldings decider, will start from gate 10 on Sunday and both will have Mat Rue in the gig.
Rue drove both to top-three finishes on Wednesday night.
There is plenty up for grabs for both Lew and Rue in Sunday’s finals, which are both Group 3 events and have $30,600 in prize money up for grabs.
Karloo Damajor was the first up in his semi-final on Wednesday and went on to finish second as a $10.30 chance behind $2.20 favourite Killara Hustler.
Karloo Threeothree then finished third in his semi, just 1.1m behind winner Hez All Courage ($10.20), who edge out Hockygreg ($10.90) by a half-neck.
In the final, Karloo Threeothree will have to take on one of the more impressive winners from Wednesday night in Jimison.
The colt scored a third straight win in one of the semi-finals on Wednesday when driver Ellen Rixon, daughter of trainer Peter, cruised down the outside to claim victory.
“When I hit the straight and he took off he still had that extra gear in him and I was feeling pretty confident,” she said.
“Because of the draw I knew things would have to go our way a bit. I didn’t actually, but he proved he could still do it. He has a lot of toughness. To win sitting three wide for so long I’m really happy with him.
“The final will all just depend on the luck of the draw and the run that we get.”
In terms of the four-year-old event, one of the most eye-catching wins came from I Will Rock You, who started his semi-final as a hot $1.50 favourite.
The David Aiken-trained gelding pulled out three wide on the turn for home under the guidance of Todd McCarthy, and mowed down gallant leader The Spin King ($21.90).
“He was travelling really good all race. He’s come up here after he raced really well on Saturday night at Melton and I spoke to [regular driver] Josh Aiken and he had a high opinion of the horse and felt he had a bit of speed,” McCarthy said.
“That’s how I wanted to drive him tonight and it paid off.”
Sunday’s meeting starts at 12.30pm with Karloo Threeothree going around at 3.15pm and Karloo Damajor in the eighth and final event at 4.25pm.
