Life at the Club

Michelle Mallia is chasing a second straight Sportsbet Geelong Cup success, hoping emerging talent Sparring can follow in the footsteps of older brother Matt Loch in Friday night’s heats.

Twelve months ago, Matt Loch dominated the country cup circuit, going unbeaten through the Geelong and Warrnambool series.

Sparring heads into Friday night’s heats off the back of a sizzling 29.84-second victory over 520 metres at Geelong – the sixth fastest time recorded at the track in the past year.

“His run last start was outstanding, especially considering he hadn’t seen the track in six months,” Mallia said.

Sparring has drawn box five in one of the toughest heats of the night (Race 8), where he will clash with proven speedsters Sharapova Star (6) and Paw Ultra (1), the latter having posted the fourth fastest Geelong time in the past 12 months (29.74 seconds).

“I don’t think many people would be thrilled drawing box five in a race like this,” Mallia said.

“There’s a lot of early speed around him which makes it tough, but I know he can improve on what he produced last start.”

Sparring (3) wins his last start at Geelong

Mallia could have further representation in the series, with litter sibling Electrojet drawn as a reserve across the heats. Despite just 15 starts, he has already posted six wins but shows a striking resemblance to his older brother.

“He’s very similar to Matt Loch – he actually broke in two lengths faster,” Mallia said.

“He works just as hard, but he’s also a bit injury-prone like him.”

Mallia will also line up Star Rebel in Heat 3 (Race 7), jumping from box seven.

Geelong hosts six heats of the Group 2 Sportsbet Geelong Cup on Friday night, beginning in Race 5 at 8.27pm.

Heat winners, along with the two fastest runners-up, will progress to the $50,000 final the following Friday.

Join Jason Adams on Sky Racing 1 throughout the night for the tips and excitement of heats night.

Matt Loch (6) wins last year’s Sportsbet Geelong Cup