Punters Info<\/a><\/p>\nBy Jonny Turner\u00a0<\/p>\n
The warm up starts for Rory McIlwrick at Winton on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The reinsman will be working to raise money throughout next month as an ambassador for harness racing\u2019s Blue September campaign, which raises money for prostate cancer research.<\/p>\n
McIlwrick can go into his mission in good form judging by his book of drives at Winton.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope some of these horses don\u2019t peak too early,\u201d the reinsman quipped.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is great to be raising money for a good cause, hopefully we can get some good results on Sunday and it sets us up for a good next month.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dragoness looks one of McIlwrick\u2019s best winning chances on Sunday in the Macca Lodge Supporting NZ Horse Ambulance Mobile Pace (2.15pm).<\/p>\n
The filly produced sharp closing sectionals when winning a recent workout at Wyndham.<\/p>\n
Dragoness showed off her good motor with a big second in her debut at Winton last year, but she broke in her next two starts before spelling.<\/p>\n
Though she didn\u2019t put a foot wrong in her recent trial, McIlwrick knows that the pressures of raceday make for a different challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer workout was great, she was just trucking along under her own steam.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s certainly got the ability to win but she is still a work in progress in the manners department.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf she got around safely we would be disappointed if she wasn\u2019t in the first three.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing about her is that she\u2019s fast and she would have the speed to gather in most horses in that field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forever Arden looks another key chance for McIlwrick in Sunday\u2019s opener.<\/p>\n
The pacer has gone to the line under a hold and without racing room in his last two starts.<\/p>\n
With just six other rivals to contend with, traffic problems are unlikely to be an issue at Winton.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if he didn\u2019t front up in that race we would be disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been running on in his last couple of races and they have been in stronger company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has shown he can work in his races and if he brings his A-game he should be a great chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abull is another of McIlwrick\u2019s drives who is stepping back in grade on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The pacer chased home the unbeaten She’s Crunchy home in a Southern Surge Final at Gore last weekend.<\/p>\n
He not only drops in grade but crucially, he gets a major draw upgrade in barrier 4.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a big step back in class for him, he should be a handy chance from a good draw.\u201d<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m not too sure about the gate speed around us, so we will have to see how it pans out early.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a 29-start maiden, Sonny Jim might not be McIlwrick\u2019s best winning chance.<\/p>\n
But he is one for punters to put into their calculations.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a solid place chance, more often than not he does everything right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf one of the first starters makes a mistake he might be able to capitalise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Popnrock and Airwaves look to be McIlwrick\u2019s rougher chances on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"30 August 2025 , Punters Info By Jonny Turner\u00a0 The warm up starts for Rory McIlwrick at Winton…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-102318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}