Rhonda Ready To Reign Supreme At Launceston

GROUP 2 Launceston Cup heroine Hello Rhonda spearheads Robin Grubb’s three-pronged assault on Monday night’s 10 event card at Launceston.

GROUP 2 Launceston Cup heroine Hello Rhonda spearheads Robin Grubb's three-pronged assault on Monday night's 10 event card at Launceston.

As we begin closing in on a big summer of racing on the Apple Isle, including the running of the group 3 Devonport Chase and group 1 Hobart Thousand, some of Tassie's best credentialled sprinters are hitting form at just the right time, including Grubb's National Sprint finalist Hello Rhonda.

"She was a bit flat when we got her home from Perth after the Sprint Championships," Grubb said.

"Looking back it was a big ask of her. She dropped a kilo on the trip over and on the trip back so we had to ease up on her when she got home for 10 or so days.

"It's taken 3-4 runs to get her back to where she should be so I was really happy with her win on Monday night."

Hello Rhonda, a daughter of Fernando Bale and Sing The Song, will line-up from box four in race eight on the program this Monday night on the back of last week's all-the-way 29.87 victory.

Amazingly, her 13 starts at the Launceston 515 metres has returned 10 wins and three seconds.

"The aim is to head towards Devonport and then obviously the Hobart Thousand," Grubb added. "She should be hard to beat again Monday night now I've got her back to where she should be. She loves Launceston."

Grubb's trio of runners this Monday kicks off in the first with Pat To Go, a younger half-brother to Hello Rhonda, chasing his maiden win over the 278 metres.

"He got cleaned up at his first start last week when he was probably half a length in front," Grubb said.

"He's a big gangly thing, he's over 36 kilos, and he's still learning how to race. It's all experience for him at the moment but I don't mind him drawn wide (six) and his run last week was better than it looks.

"The 278 races are crash and bash but he's in with a chance."

Grubb's other runner on Monday night is the hugely consistent Willy Bound, lining up in race seven from box six, a draw he's becoming quite accustomed to.

"His run on Monday night finishing second was huge," Grubb said.

"The run actually knocked him around a bit and he was dehydrated there for a few days. It was a real gut-buster. I may even need to scratch him, I'll just see how he is in the next few days."

Willy Bound, a son of Magic Sprite and Roxy Rhythm, has faced the starter on 15 occasions for four wins and a further eight seconds.

If he does start in Monday's assignment he'll need to turn the tables on the Anthony Bullock-trained Devil's Corner (box one). The in form chaser made it two wins on the trot when defeating a gallant Willy Bound last Monday by 5 ¾ lengths in 30.26.

"He's drawn six but that doesn't worry me he wants outside – his win at Devonport two runs back was very good and he's really matured the last month or so."

Meanwhile, Robin Grubb reports his star sprinter Peco Can is on the comeback trail, having last faced the starter in July.

"I had her all ready to return to racing and she split her webbing," Grubb informed.

"She's ticking over nicely and it's better it happened now then in a month's time when all the big races were starting. There's a good crop of youngsters coming through in Tassie at the moment so she's going to have her work cut out."

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