The interstate contenders have been getting acquainted with Victorian soil ahead of a huge Nationals weekend, with several key runners trialling at Sandown Park on Thursday night.

Race caller Dan Hibberd saw the trials firsthand and has given his assessment of the performances ahead of the Group 1 National Sprint and National Distance finals at Sandown Park on Saturday, August 29.

Boom Bam Ranger | 595m – 9.13, 23.21, 10.74 – 33.94sec
A brilliant hit-out from Boom Bam Ranger, who appeared to get stronger as the trial progressed. He just got better as the trial went on. He’s going to be hard to beat in the final. If he gets out and leads, it’s going to take some good ones to run him down.

Winsome Jet | 515m – 5.11, 18.74, 10.43 – 29.17sec
Winsome Jet produced an eye-catching first look at Sandown, particularly through the latter stages of his trial. He’ll be bang on for the final next week. He probably needs to go a touch quicker for that first split, but his second split was brilliant and his run home was crazy.

Utter Madness | 515m – 5.19, 18.98, 10.79 – 29.77sec
He will need to find improvement to match it with the leading National Sprint contenders. He’s a bit off the absolute top seeds in the final.

Beautiful Child | 715m – 6.12, 15.72, 30.62 – 42.09sec
Not a bad run – the time compares with the actual race that was run over the trip last night. It was really wet so that might have impacted the time. I think there might be a bit of improvement out of her.

The interstate preparations weren’t limited to Sandown, with Terrell Banner and Brailey Banner stretching their legs at Healesville on Friday.

The pair trialled up the straight between races in preparation for the National Straight Track Championship Final next Friday, stopping the clock at 18.90sec.

The Group 1 Nationals action then heads to Sandown Park on Saturday, August 29, for the National Sprint and National Distance finals with the National Straight Track final will be run on Friday, August 28.