State Bandit Just The Tonic For Hildebrand At Ballarat
A win by State Bandit at Ballarat on Wednesday night will be just the tonic his trainer Barry Hilderbrand needs at the moment.
Hilderbrand has had some recent health problems, and is now just getting back to one of his passions which is training greyhounds.
State Bandit will jump from Box 8 in the Accredited Distributors Grade 5 over 450 metres.
“The box draw should suit him as it will allow him to settle down in the race.” Hilderbrand said.
The son of Elite State has only had twelve career starts, for a win and three minor placing's to date.
Punters should look for State Bandit coming home hard at the end of the race.
“He has a bit of a habit of being slow out of the boxes, but he certainly motors run's home hard in his races.”
“He's a good, honest chaser who should be good each way value in the race.”
State Bandit is certainly a family affair, with the other three owners being family members of Hilderbrand.
Hardest for State Bandit to beat in the race will be Ben's Ace and Riverdale Zoe.
Ben's Ace fell at Ballarat last week, but has taken no ill affects from the fall.
The Bill Innes trained Ben's Ace has plenty of ability, and already boasts two wins at Ballarat. From the Box 1 draw he looms as a real chance in the race.
Riverdale Zoe from the Ian Green kennel has not had much luck at her recent outings.
She won at Geelong in November, and if she can reproduce that form when she was quick out of the boxes, she is sure to be right in the finish of the race.