Southside trainers in seventh heaven in the Sportsbet Future Stars Series

The local dominance of this year’s Sportsbet Future Stars Series continued at Sportsbet-Pakenham on Thursday night, when Charlottle Littlefield became the seventh Southside Racing trainer to saddle up the winner from the seven heats run so far. 

Littlefield is enjoying her most successful season since taking out her training licence in 2015, with her boutique stable currently boasting a win rate of 21.5 per cent and a place rate in excess of 50 per cent, and she extended her red-hot run of form when Jenni Intiba sprouted wings to score an eye-catching victory for prominent owner Tony Ottobre. 

The first prize of $41,250 received a significant boost with the addition of a $100,000 bonus courtesy of the Inglis Xtra Maiden Series, and Jenni Intiba will get the chance to chase further riches for her connections having now qualified for the $300,000 Future Stars Series Final (1400m) at Sportsbet-Pakenham on Thursday, 27 February. 

Should she take her place in the lucrative finale, Jenni Intiba is likely to be one of several gallopers flying the flag for Southside Racing with the previous heats having been taken out by trainers Greg Eurell (Untapped), Grahame Begg (Perfect Picture), Phillip Stokes (Gala Queen), Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr (Yachiyo), Julius Sandhu (Storm Ahead) and Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young (Nostringsattached).  

A well-judged ride aboard the odds-on favourite Storm Ahead saw Beau Mertens extend his lead at the head of affairs in the hotly-contested Sportsbet Jockey Contest, which carries a prize purse of $50,000. 

Mertens currently leads the way in the chase for the $30,000 first prize, with the five points he collected courtesy of his winning ride on Storm Ahead moving him to 17 points. Jye McNeil, who picked up the maximum 10 points when he shrewdly activated his ‘power play’ on the fourth heat winner Yachiyo, sits in second place on 11 points with Zac Spain rounding out the top three on 10 points. 

The next opportunity for the chasing pack to close the gap on Mertens comes next Thursday, 6 February, when the eighth and ninth heats are held at Sportsbet-Pakenham. Three more legs will then be run and won ahead of the grand finale, with the 12 heat winners offered the opportunity to compete for a first prize of $165,000.

Should any of the winners not line up in the final, their places will be offered to the highest-rated runners-up from the 12 qualifiers.  

The seven heat winners so far are listed below:      

• Heat 1 (10 Jan) Untapped (trained by Greg Eurell) 
• Heat 2 (10 Jan) Perfect Picture (Grahame Begg)
• Heat 3 (17 Jan) Gala Queen (Phillip Stokes)
• Heat 4 (17 Jan) Yachiyo (Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr)
• Heat 5 (23 Jan) Storm Ahead (Julius Sandhu)
• Heat 6 (23 Jan) Nostringsattached (Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young) 
• Heat 7 (30 Jan) Jenni Intiba (Charlotte Littlefield)