Blue Storm announced himself as a serious Launching Pad contender with a blistering 29.09-second heat win at Sandown Park on Thursday night.

The emerging talent has been on a rapid rise, catching the attention of Brooke Ennis following a dominant clean sweep of a $20,000 maiden final at The Gardens.

Owner Ken Burnett wasted no time in making the call.

“He came down without a ticket, and we had to plan a quick prep with the qualifier at Sandown just nine days after his maiden final win,” Ennis said.

That plan hit an early hurdle when Blue Storm fell in the Launching Pad qualifier, leaving connections scrambling for a way back into the series.

“We were left scouting for a Launching Pad ticket. With only a few days to spare, thankfully another owner of ours had a spare and allowed us to use it.”

While the logistics were being sorted off the track, Blue Storm continued to build momentum on it.

At his first Victorian start, he powered home to win impressively over 460 metres at Geelong in 25.79 seconds as part of the Geelong to Sandown restricted win series, before finishing second in the 515-metre final at Sandown.

That final was taken out by Like A Rock, who went on to set the benchmark on Thursday night at Sandown Park with a best-of-the-night 29.02 seconds for Ned McDonald.

Blue Storm wins his Launching Pad heat from box eight in a time of 29.09 seconds.

From a wide draw in his Launching Pad heat, Blue Storm capitalised on early race chaos with Tripped Out falling on the first turn.

Tipped Out was examined by the oncourse vet and found to have sustained spike wounds and handed a five-day standdown.

“He (Blue Storm) keeps improving week by week at home,” Ennis said.

“His run-home times are exceptional for a young dog, and for one who isn’t two yet – who knows how fast he can go.”

Blue Storm will now jump from box one in the opening semi-final of the Launching Pad at Sandown Park on Thursday night.

The top four finishers from each of the two semi-finals will progress to the $400,000 Launching Pad Final, to be run at Sandown Park on Thursday, May 2.