Amron Boy and Alpha Zulu were the standout performers in Thursday night’s Group 2 Sportsbet Cranbourne Cup heats (515m) at Sandown Park, as Brooke Ennis, Jason Thompson and the Presutto family all claimed doubles.

The Cranbourne Cup wasn’t held in 2022 due to the track closure, with the most recent winner, Koblenz, in 2021, going on to Melbourne Cup glory just three starts later.

Brooke Ennis’ powerhouse sprinter Amron Boy set the time standard in the first of seven heats, returning to his brilliant best with a 29.11sec victory.

It was Amron Boy’s first win since taking out a G1 Brisbane Cup heat in late June, albeit he’d only started six times.

Amron Boy has now won 10 from 18 at Sandown, with seven minors, highlighted by the G1 Harrison-Dawson (29.13sec), while he also defeated Kelsey Bale in the G3 Bill Collins Showdown on Sandown Cup night.

WATCH: “Amron Boy is back!” AMRON BOY (B3) is the fastest qualifier for the G2 Cranbourne Cup after a flying BON 29.11sec heat victory at Sandown Park.

Brooke Ennis and husband Jamie secured a heat double with Launch Code, winner of the G1 Maturity Classic at The Meadows in July, finishing strongly to claim a 29.47sec victory in the fifth runoff.

Amron Boy shaded last Friday night’s G2 Bendigo Cup winner Alpha Zulu for qualifying honours, with Jason Thompson’s potential superstar to take aim at back-to-back country cup titles.

On debut at Sandown, Alpha Zulu, Sportsbet’s $5.50 ‘All in’ series favourite, began brilliantly from box eight in heat four, running 5.00sec early.

But in a desperately tight finish, Alpha Zulu had to defy a late challenge from Fred Rose, prevailing by the barest of margins in the second quickest heat time of 29.15sec, his 14^th win from 19 starts.

Alpha Zulu completed a heat-to-heat double for Thompson, after Navarino’s 29.48sec victory in the previous run-off.

GROUP 2
CRANBOURNE CUP HEAT
WINNERS
(fastest to slowest)

29.11sec Amron Boy
29.15sec Alpha Zulu
29.28sec Big Energy
29.40sec Idolize
29.43sec Exalted
29.47sec Launch Code
29.48sec Navarino

Having annexed the Adelaide and Bendigo Cups and Great Chase over the last fortnight, Thompson will be striving to break a surprising hoodoo in his hometown Cup, with the Cranbourne Cup one of the very few Victorian feature races to have eluded the champion Pearcedale mentor.

There was another thrilling finish to the penultimate heat, with Peter Presutto’s ‘grand’ mother Idolize continuing her remarkable return to racing after producing a litter of pups when holding on in a four-way blanket finish, clocking 29.40sec, her 4.98sec first section the best of the night.

Idolize’s fourth win from her last five starts was the second leg of a Presutto heat double, with Exalted, prepared by Peter’s wife Natalie, victorious in 29.43sec.

The odd heat winner out, not coming from the Ennis, Thompson, or Presutto kennels, was Jackie Greenough’s Big Energy, which claimed the final run-off in 29.28sec, his seventh win from 12 appearances at Sandown, where he owns a scintillating 28.93sec PB.

Holly Thompson with Alpha Zulu after his Cranbourne Cup heat win. 📷 Clint Anderson