Maiden Spoils On Dwyer's ‘Radar'

SOME beautifully bred youngsters will line-up in Monday evening's $5,000 to-the-winner Les Thompson Memorial Maiden Final (520m) at Nowra, led by fastest qualifier Massimo Osti for owner/trainer Ashley Dwyer.

Stepping out for just her second start in last Monday's heats, after finishing third on debut over the Nowra 365m two weeks earlier, Massimo Osti, or more affectionately known at home as Radar, finished stoutly to land her qualifier in a tidy 30.37, defeating fellow finalist Winnie The Que by three lengths.

"She's taken a little while to come to hand but she's really improved and found her feet in recent weeks – she's going great," said Dwyer of his 20-month old daughter of Barcia Bale and Sizzling Osti.

"She'd had a really good grounding heading into the heats with trials around Bathurst, Wenty and Nowra. She trailed very well at Wenty before the heats so I was confident she'd race well last week and she did everything right – popped onto the rail and sweated on the run. With a clear run I've got no doubt she can run around the 30 flat mark on Monday."

Massimo Osti is from Sizzling Osti's second litter, her first to Collision proving hugely successful for Dwyer, boasting chasers the caliber of Mainline Osti (17 wins), Got A Motor (11 wins), and Osti Influence (7 wins), who goes around at Nowra in race six on Monday.

In all the litter has won 47 races and $150,000 in prizemoney, terrific results given the spate of injuries endured during their careers, leaving Dwyer to ponder what might have been.

"She's been a great producer carrying on Ted Doss' famous Osti moniker but I doubt I'll breed another litter with her now," said Dwyer of Sizzling Osti.

"I'll definitely breed with Mainline Osti and Osti Influence when they come on season, the plan is to go to Fernando Bale or Cosmic Rumble with Mainline Osti – she broke down when well in front at Dapto back in November and is recovering well at home."

While Massimo Osti will need to negotiate a tricky box six draw to land Monday's $5,000 to-the-winner maiden finale, Dwyer is rather optimistic about his charges prospects, with some early luck in running.

"The way I read the race is that Garry's (Edwards) pair (Where's Ella and Regal Twist) will be the speed and I'm just hoping my bitch can get herself into third early – she showed a lot of track sense last week so hopefully she can do the same again," assessed Dwyer.

"I think the one to beat is the eight dog Winnie The Que – Mick Clayton is a good friend and I knew he'd trialled well heading into the heats last week which made me halve my bet – sometimes it's better not to know!"

And whilst Dwyer's focus is firmly fixed on Nowra this Monday, the Canberra based conditioner will soon turn his attention to Bulli on Saturday where he will unearth another promising type from the litter, Alliteration.

"I think he could be pretty good," said Dwyer with a degree of excitement.

"There's a Ladbrokes Maiden at Bulli on Saturday worth good money so he will be in there, he performance trialled nice and broke 10 for the first section which is getting along so I expect him to go well."

The other qualifier of the Les Thompson Memorial Maiden last Monday was annexed by Winsome Brayden for John Finn, the son of Dyna Double One making his Nowra debut a winning one, cracking his maiden status at start six with a slender 30.46 victory over Blue Nail for trainer Colin Swan.

The final is race five on the program, due to go at 7.51pm ESTD.