TAMWORTH driver Tom Ison scored a treble and recorded the fastest time in qualifying two runners for Maitland's Inter City Pace final.
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Ison dominated with the Adam Ruggari-trained Far Out Bro in Tuesday's quickest heat after successfully opening the four preliminary races aboard Brad Hewitt's Captain Dan.
Later in the same meeting Ison won the Maitland City Cup (2044 metres) feature with Peter Russo's favourite Ragnarr.
Five-year-old Far Out Bro, a new addition to Ruggari's stable, stopped the clock in two minutes, 59.8 seconds and put 26.8m on his nearest rival. His mile rate for the 2422m journey was 1:59.5.
Ison will now be forced to pick between Far Out Bro and Captain Dan for Sunday's group 3 decider worth $30,600.
Whats Your Secret and Chevron Art were the other Inter City Pace heat winners.
Drum Withers, Stylish Joe, Just Dessy and Stealth Bomba also qualified automatically as second placegetters.
Roclea Ruler and Military Man were the fastest thirds and round out the field.
Prodigal Guinness shapes as the likely emergency runner.
Officials announced on Wednesday that crowds would be allowed to attend the final at Maitland Showground this weekend after COVID forced the heats behind closed doors.
Josh Callinan
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
