Wangaratta trainer John Ledger has last-start winner Electric Charlie primed for next month’s Wodonga Gold Cup.
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The four-year-old edged out the impressive Graham Hulm-trained Bennelong Dancer ($2.45f) by 2¼ lengths in the Class Two race over 1400 metres at Albury on Saturday.
“He started on the back of the speed and worked towards the lead at 600 and he was strong enough to straighten and kicked in the last 50 to 60m,” Ledger said.
It was the bay gelding’s fifth run back from a five-month spell.
“He’s had a pretty ambitious campaign, he raced in a lot of good three-year-old races in Melbourne during the year,” Ledger said.
“He ran fifth earlier in the year in a Group Two race.”
That top five finish was at Caulfield in late February, one of five metropolitan races over a two-month period.
Electric Charlie started with a seventh place finish at Moonee Valley in late January followed by sixth (Flemington), fourth (Moonee Valley) and 10th (Moonee Valley) in late March.
Electric Charlie’s last start prior to Albury was in Ballarat a fortnight ago.
“He went to Ballarat to qualify for the Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Series on Oaks Day at Flemington,” Ledger said.
“He didn’t travel down very well and he’d run his race before the race.
“He ran probably the worst race of his career, he was just spent before he even got out on the track.”
Ledger expected a tough battle from the pair which filled the minor placings.
“I thought yesterday (Saturday) Bennelong Dancer and Dan McCarthy’s horse (Pittsburgh) are pretty good gallopers with good form,” he said.
Ledger is now eyeing one of the border’s big two races on November 24.
“He will be aimed at the Wodonga Cup, he races well there,” he said.
“There’s lots of Cups around that 10 days, so Wodonga’s probably not going to be the strongest country cup.
“There’s Ballarat, Kyneton and Kilmore I think.”
Electric Charlie now has two wins, as well as four minor placings, in his 13 starts, clocking up $46,635 in prizemoney.
It was one of two wins for Wangaratta trainers at the seven-race Albury program.
Chris Davis took out the third race over 1400m with Falcon Rubi.
And Wodonga’s Craig Widdison took out 1175m Benchmark 65 Handicap.
When Albury resumed racing a fortnight ago after a seven-month break, due to ongoing track repairs, hometown trainers claimed five of the seven races.
However, not one Albury trainer snared a win on Saturday.
Albury will now race on Melbourne Cup day on November 7.