The 2011 TROA/LUXBET Winter Championship Series Heat 6 will be run at Flemington tomorrow, with Heat 7 at Hamilton on Sunday 3 July leading into the culmination of the series being the $202,000 Final, to be run at Flemington on Saturday 9 July – Flemington Finals Day.

All horses participating in the 2011 TROA/LUXBET Winter Championship Series Heats are awarded points according to judge’s placings. The leading points scorer is eligible for the $50,000 bonus if it then wins the TROA/LUXBET Winter Championship Series Final.

Heading into Heat 6 of the series, the Mark Riley trained Tough Future has a good lead on 17 points, earning points with a good win in Heat One at Cranbourne, followed by a close third placing at Bendigo.

Eligibility for the $50,000 bonus is wide open with Jungle Ruler, Rocky Times, By The Way, Dr Nipandtuck, Stanzout and Tiakinui all representing a challenge to assume the lead at Flemington. Western district trained hopefuls Nicastro and Yokozuna both collected points in the Warrnambool heat, and could be looking towards the last heat at Hamilton (3 July) for the opportunity to chase the coveted leader title.

The previous five winners of the Winter Championship Final have all won their last two starts leading into the final, with only one of these starts being a heat of the series. Had these wins been part of the series these horses would have all gone into the final as the leading or equal leading point scorer – and subsequently would have won the proposed $50,000 bonus.

The Winter Championship Final is a quality race year by year, proven by recent winners such as Gold Salute and Sea Battle, which were later placed in the Group 1 Emirates Stakes at Flemington, and last year’s winner Doubtful Jack, which saluted in the Group 3 Bobbie Lewis Quality at his next start.”

2011 Points Tally as at 15 June 2011 HORSE (Trainer) TOTAL
TOUGH FUTURE (Mark Riley) 17 JUNGLE RULER (Peter White) 11 I'M DISCREET (Russell Cameron) 10
NICASTRO (Jarrod McLean) 10
ROCKY TIMES (Jason Clifford) 10 YOKOZUNA (Aaron Purcell) 9
BY THE WAY (Mark Lewis) 8 DR NIPANDTUCK (James Fraser) 8 KUDETA (Heath Conners) 8
MR GRISWOLD (Ellerton/Zahra) 8
RUSSIAN BOND (Gary Lamb) 8
STANZOUT (Colin Davis) 8 TIAKINUI (Matthew Enright) 8 MELETE (Paul McKenna) 7
PHILDA (Michael Kent) 7
EUPHORIC REALM (Mick Price) 6
GLANEUSE (Michael O’Leary) 6
HEXY LEGS (Stephen Theodore) 6
ITS PRINCE (Robbie Griffiths) 6
KING COBWEB (John Rattle) 6
LA ROCKET (Dale Sutton) 6 LUCKY EIGHTY EIGHT (Ellerton/Zahra) 5
NO JURISDICTION (Robbie Griffiths) 5 SNORT (Rick Hore-Lacy) 5
TANAH LOT (Colin Little) 5
AT THE HEADS (Danny O’Brien) 4
CARNERO (Dean Binaisse) 4 JUSTSAY SUMTHINK (Peter Healey) 4
ORTAYGA (Charles Cassar) 4
DEMERIT (Peter Snowden) 3
EPIC DRAGON (John Sadler) 3
RICEMAN (Dean Saxon) 3
SOPHROSYNE (Michael Moroney) 3
TORREFY (Fran Houlahan & Brian Johnston) 3
HADDLE MCDADDLE (Paddy Payne) 2
LIGHT TAN (Michael O’Leary) 2
LUCKY THUNDER (Brian Jenkins) 2
ARCH SYMBOL (Bill & Symon Wilde) 1
BOHIKA (Darren Weir) 1
BOLLE (Barbara Marshman) 1
CASCABEL (Robbie Griffiths) 1
FLYING TESSIE (Matthew Williams) 1
GOTTA KEEP COOL (Darren Weir) 1
IRONSIDE (Robbie Laing) 1
LE BARON (Peter Morgan) 1
MISS LILY ROSE (Mick Price) 1
MR PAPARAZZI (Kathryn Durden) 1
SOUND JOURNEY (Luke Oliver) 1
TERRA RUN (Jason Clifford) 1
TIO ROSSA (Colin &Cindy Alderson) 1
WOOKAH (David Hayes) 1