Saloon Bar out to make impact fresh in Bolton Sprint for trainer Dan Morton

Capable sprinter Saloon Bar, who experienced a breakout preparation through the autumn, returns to the racetrack in Saturday’s $125,000 Listed H G Bolton Sprint (1200m) at Belmont ready to rumble, according to trainer Dan Morton. Saloon Bar did not win a race in his last campaign, but produced a career highlight when running fifth in The Quokka behind Overpass and was beaten less than two lengths. He was last seen when running fourth, beaten less than a length, behind Multinational on 18 May. Morton was loath to give the son of Sessions too long a break considering his gross nature and expects him to justify his safe $7.50 TABtouch price tag. “He spelled well and he’s back in the swing good - I think he’ll go really well come Saturday,” Morton told TABradio. “He’s a horse that’s taken a fair while to mature. “Last prep we saw him really come on, right through to The Quokka where he ran out of his skin. “He’s the real deal.” Morton is set to aim the four-year-old gelding up at some of Belmont’s rich sprinting features in the coming weeks where he is likely to line up against many rivals from Saturday’s contest. “These sprint races now - this one (the H G Bolton) and the others (Belmont Newmarket and Idyllic Prince Stakes) between it and the Farnley (7 September) - there’s nice races for him, then we’ll probably tread water a little bit and look at the spring/summer for him,” Morton said. “He really holds condition and takes plenty of racing, plenty of work, so he’s a pretty tough unit. “He won’t have too long off between this little prep and the spring/summer, so I think that’ll work well for him.” The favourite for Saturday’ assignment is Red Fifty Three, a $4.40 hope who triumphed first-up at his last preparation. He has not been seen since disputing favouritism in March’s Grandstand Cup at Ascot but failing to flatter, finishing a disappointing eighth. Though a five-time winner at 1200m, Red Fifty Three will be aiming up at slightly further as his campaign progresses and will be back in the field. He’s likely to be given a soft ride by jockey William Pike and come with barnstorming effort late. Vast Art, second favourite at $6, sat on-speed and was only outpaced by the zippy Acromantula in a recent Lark Hill hit-out to ready himself for this. Though he is another that will be aiming up at races over a furlong further, he will be hitting his straps late and steaming home. Boots Like Bruce ($6.50) is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the quirkiest horses in training, but is equally lovable in the eyes of punters having won six of 14 race starts. Albeit wayward over the concluding stages on July 13, Boots Like Bruce showed heart and dispelled any concerns of him being solely a leader when taking cover and still proving best over 1200m. He will need to rise to another level again this week, but is certainly a horse with scope. Minsk Moment ($7.50) looked vibrant in trials before never seriously getting involved in an on-pace dominated Beaufine Stakes a fortnight ago. Trainer Adam Durrant held the belief the horse would be better suited when covering a longer trip as he had never raced over such a short distance as last start, and he now gets that opportunity. Duchess Of Gossip ($8) was the best backed runner when markets were lodged on Wednesday after going up a $16 elect. Man Crush ($9) was out-sped by Puli in the Beaufine Stakes but is likely to find himself on top of the tempo here and was held in high regard for that assignment. Horses like Puli ($16) and Ghost Who Walks ($20) being rated at such long prices creates emphasis of the handy nature of the field. + Whilst the feature at Gloucester Park’s Friday night meeting is the $30,000 Botra Cup - Proudly Sponsored By Garrard’s Horse And Hound SS Pace (2503m), the star attraction will be remarkable four-year-old Never Ending. The son of Sweet Lou, who has inherited $3.25 favouritism for the $2.1 million TAB Eureka at Menangle on September 7, produced a lightning sprint to haul in quality rivals in the Free-For-All a fortnight back and will be a short-priced elect to repeat this week. The gelding has drawn gate six in the Bota - Thanking Our President FFA Pace (1730m) but could be benefited by an early battle for the lead between Soho Dow Jones (gate one) and Hampton Banner (five). Any early pressure will play into the hands of the dynamo, with trainer-reinsman Justin Prentice at ease with the barrier. “The draw allows us to see what happens inside us early,” Prentice told Racing WA Harness. “The mile is probably not the ideal trip in the way of a lead up to the Eureka, but I don’t think it will bother him. “He’s been settled at home, and he seems good after the first-up run.” Never Ending will reunite with his regular reinsman Gary Hall Jnr for his two Menangle races after the leading driver was given a two-week reprieve on an eight-week ban, meaning he can return to the sulky on August 13.