Sir Ming hoping to steal limelight at Hawkesbury meeting

A Thursday provincial Maiden Plate at Hawkesbury that’s dripping in potential could provide a booming formline for the rest of the year.

Among a string of promising younger and lightly raced gallopers strutting their stuff at the feature meeting, one metropolitan-based colt can steal the headlines.

Sir Ming, a striking three-year-old son of Irish sprint stallion Shalaa and out of an unraced Snitzel mare, is out to rebound a month after missing a place on debut at this track as a heavily backed favourite.

That day, Sir Ming had a tough run in a deep and competitive maiden, but the Hawkes stable quickly put him back on track and he won a Rosehill trial by more than four lengths before adding blinkers and targeting this race over 1100m.

And as he did in the trial, flying jockey James McDonald sticks like glue for a race that could prove a massive form pointer for younger horses moving through the grades.

Mind you, connections won’t have to look far for one of the bigger dangers.

Stablemate Nickelback resumes for only his fifth start behind a forward Rosehill trial; promising Sir Crackle is out to go one better after missing narrowly first-up at Gosford; exciting Spirit Of Boom colt Bundeena debuts off a string of nice trials; and Randwick three-year-old Troika who charged home late in the same debut maiden as Sir Crackle is also likely to command market support.

Meanwhile, in three consecutive Benchmark 64 races over a 700m distance spread to close the card, the Hawkes camp can strike again with still emerging mare Raccolto second-up off a lengthy break.