ID ticket after Kilmore quinella

By Tim O’Connor (HRV)

Ollivici officially secured his place in the 2023 Inter Dominion Trotting Championships in Queensland with a golden ticket into the series courtesy of his triumph in the MC Labour Kilmore Trotters Cup.

Chris Lang and Sonia Mahar prepared the quinella in the race as Bullion Harry boxed on gamely for second in the $25,000 feature.

The result was a second driving success in the Cup for Lang, who previously steered National Interest to victory in 1998.

Lang has long been vocal in his admiration for Ollivici and he was full of praise for the five-year-old once again after his performance on Friday night.

“He’s getting better and better this prep and he’s such a relaxed animal,” he said.

“He just does what you ask him to do and no more, and that’s all we had to do.”

The race was turned on its head when favourite One Over All galloped in his bid to find the lead through the middle stages of the marathon 3150m trip and this gave the advantage to Ollivici, who sat parked for the last lap and then pulled clear to beat front-runner and stablemate Bullion Harry by just over 2m.

“The favourite, obviously, was on my back so I had to be wary of that, but in the end it wouldn’t have mattered I don’t think what I did,” Lang said.

Ollivici, who was the co-backmarker off a 30m handicap, has now won 13 of 28 starts and more than $160,000 in prizemoney.

One Over All still sits well clear at the top of the Maori’s Idol Trotting Championship standings with 25 points, seven ahead of Victree Hill and a further four clear of Bullion Harry.