Lance Justice guides to victory at Moonee Valley. They will chase an even bigger success in the Group 3 Tontine Pacers Series Final.
A pump will be the first piece of equipment Lance Justice loads into the truck while he is preparing for his trip to Geelong on Saturday night.
The Melton trainer-driver will ensure his sulky wheels are fully inflated before he heads out to contest the $30,000 Group 3 Melton Saddlery Tontine Pacers Series Final with Coastal.
A flat tyre was just one misfortune Coastal had to battle when runner-up to Jaccka Sandy in his semi final and although he has the outside of the back row to contend with in the 2100-metre decider, Justice remains confident.
“He races well from behind and he had to come three wide at Ballarat the other night (in his semi) when another horse ran him off the track, plus he carried a flat tyre as well,” Justice said.
“Even though he got beaten he went exceptionally well, so we’ll just make sure the tyres are pumped up and he should go pretty close to them.”
Although he’s giving away age to most of his rivals in the 9.30pm final, the three-year-old Courage Under Fire gelding will start one of the top fancies for the time-honoured series for C2-C4 pacers.
He’s won nine of his 27 starts and $60,752 in stakes – the most by any horse in the field.
Shaping as the hardest to beat for Coastal are Jaccka Sandy (barrier six) and the other semi-final winner Bigbang Nitro (eight), while Our Madagascar (five), Lady Lunchalot (nine) and Rowan Direct (11) demonstrated their ability with fine heat wins.
The pacers’ decider is just one of two big finals to be decided at Geelong with the $16,000 Melton Saddlery Trotters Series Final also up for grabs.
Shadon (front) and Joule Count (10m) were the heat winners, but they can expect stiff opposition from Puerto Bonus (20m), Kellys Nippa (30m) and Justanothermaori (front), a son of former champion mare Sumthingaboutmaori, in the 2570-metre standing start event.
The Tontine finals aren’t the only highlights of a card that features the return of rising star Sammy Maguire, who will meet a field of C6 or better performers in the Major In Art Pace (8pm), and a pair of Vicbred Super Series heats for two-year-old trotters.
Headline act in the first qualifier (at 7pm) is Mister Castleton, who took his record to four wins from as many starts with victory in the Group 2 Tatlow Stakes at Moonee Valley on June 12.
The second heat follows at 7.32pm, with competitors battling it out for a spot in the $50,000 Group 1 final on Tabcorp Park’s grand opening day – Sunday, July 5.
