MARONG trainer Shaun McNaulty is hoping for a slice of luck with his promising trotter Travel Bug.
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The four-year-old gelding capped a return to form with a win at Ararat on Tuesday night, giving the young trainer his fourth win from nine starts with the former Anton Golino-trained trotter.
McNaulty hopes to run Travel Bug in next Monday's Group 3 $25,000 Tontine Trotting Championship at Stawell.
"We're hoping he gets a start - I think he should on ability," he said.
"I think it will suit him, being a 2500m race.
"He's probably a better stayer than he is a sprinter, even though he has enough speed. I think (staying) is his best attribute as he just keeps plugging away."
A winner of five races in total from his 15 career starts, Travel Bug has been a frustrating horse for McNaulty, despite possessing his fair share of natural ability.
"I quite like him, I think he can go a bit of a way, but he's just been a bit frustrating because he galloped in his first couple of starts (this preparation) and he even galloped in the score up last night," he said.
"Hopefully we can figure that out.
"We were a bit disappointed, first-up at Boort. We were pretty confident that he would be hard to beat, but he didn't trot.
"Last prep, he only galloped once and that wasn't really his fault. He ran third in the Breeders Crown consolation but was probably the run of the race.
"But the first two starts back (Boort and Bendigo) he's been a bit disappointing.
"He's probably not just mature enough yet, but in another 12 months I reckon we could head down to town pretty comfortably."
Travel Bug, the son of Dream Vacation and Tricia Powell, was brilliantly driven by young gun James Herbertson.
The gelding had six starts for his original trainer Golino, which included a win on debut at Maryborough in November 2018.
His Ararat victory adds to a tally of 25 wins for 17 individual Bendigo region trainers during January.
Eight of those have come in the past seven days.
Bendigo region trained winners since last Thursday:
Kilmore -Thursday: Rigondeaux (Maddie Ray and Haydon Gray);
Melton - Friday: Sundons Courage (Brad Angove);
Cobram - Friday: Joeys Hangover (Terry French);
Ballarat - Saturday: Neangar Guy (Jim O'Sullivan);
Wedderburn - Sunday: Angels Breath (Trevor Ralph); Illawong Jovial (Scott Rains);
Melton - Monday: Raani (Ken Taylor)
Tuesday (Ararat): Travel Bug (Shaun McNaulty).
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