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White Ferns LIVE on SN ExtraField confirmed for Sunday’s Running of the Bulls slot race
Tim O'Connor • March 4th, 2026 1:01 pm
The stage is set for Victoria’s first harness slot race, with horses declared for Sunday’s inaugural Running of the Bulls feature at Birchip.
Nine stables are included in the final field of 10, with Toolleen trainer Alex Ashwood set to have two runners in the $125,000 event.
His own slot – Ashwood Racing – has speedy mare The Bride as its representative, while Giddy Up With Gareth Hall has gone with stablemate and x-factor Wicked Confession.
Wicked Confession was purchased by Ashwood’s partner Tayla French for just $3000 and has won both starts since joining the camp by huge margins.
She will begin from the coveted inside barrier one given her rating of 51, which was frozen at that mark before last Wednesday’s dominant victory at Mildura.
Ashwood will drive The Bride, while Australia’s leading reinsman, James Herbertson, has been booked to partner Wicked Confession.
The Murchison-Toolamba Football Netball Club has stayed local and elected to run the Shane Sanderson-trained Ideal Bandit, who like Wicked Confession, has had just the six career starts and draws down low in gate two.
Fellow sporting organisation, the Birchip-Watchem Football Club, has gone with a more experienced pacer in Bizzness Class, who hails from the Charlton stable of Michael Gadsden and is a veteran of 88 starts.
Lemnos-based Crown Lodge Racing has put faith in one of its own stars, Sanchez, who will head to the Running of the Bulls on the back of a last-start second placing in the Group 3 4YO Bonanza at Melton.
In that race, Sanchez beat home the seventh-placed Golden Tribe, who gets the nod to represent the Lewis Family for Bannockburn trainer Tom Rundle.
Fillies In Charge, an all-girls syndicate, has teamed up with Girgarre trainer Lisa Pitt and her mare Soap And Bubbles, who has a good career record of six wins from 13 starts and returned from a spell with a sixth placing at Melton on February 21.
Cargill Cares For Community backed the race with a significant financial contribution and gained a slot as part of the sponsorship deal. The organisation has sided with Curyo Gentleman, who is from the Horsham stable of Rod Carberry and is a winner of eight of his 36 runs. Also from Horsham is trainer-driver Aaron Dunn and he has selected 18-time winner Maxy Wants To Play as the runner for his business and slot, Dunn-Ezy Seed Cleaning.
Meteor Moth is the class runner of the field with the highest national rating of 89 and hails from the powerhouse Cardigan barn of Emma Stewart. He will run for the Coffey Family syndicate, which is headed up by Caulfield Cup-winning jockey Harry.
The two emergencies are Uniquely Ideal (barrier seven) and Madigan (barrier 10).
The 2026 race conditions have been carefully crafted to draw a field of emerging types and country warriors. They include:
- A 2150m pacing race for horses 4YO and older, with a preferential barrier draw (NR)
- Horses must have a national rating of no more than 90 and have not won a race worth $50,000 or more since January 1, 2024.
- Horses with a national rating of 91+ are eligible, providing they haven’t won a race worth $15,000 or more.
- The horse must be Victorian-trained from December 1, 2025
- The first edition of the Running of the Bulls will be held at Birchip on Sunday, with the race scheduled for 5.48pm.
It will be the last event on the card and follows the day’s other major features, the Mallee Bull Birchip Trotters Cup and Mallee Bull Birchip Pacing Cup.
$125,000 RUNNING OF THE BULLS
SUNDAY, MARCH 8. 2150m, BIRCHIP
FRONT ROW
1 WICKED CONFESSION
BROWN MARE 4YRS
SLOT HOLDER: Giddy Up With Gareth Hall
TRAINER: Alex Ashwood
CAREER: 6-2-0-0
PRIZEMONEY: $7,360
2 IDEAL BANDIT
BAY GELDING 4YRS
SLOT HOLDER: Murchison-Toolamba Football Netball Club
TRAINER: Shane Sanderson
CAREER: 6-3-0-1
PRIZEMONEY: $13,466
3 SANCHEZ
BAY GELDING 4YRS
SLOT HOLDER: Crown Lodge Racing
TRAINER: Russell Jack
CAREER: 21-3-8-2
PRIZEMONEY: $124,059
4 BIZZNESS CLASS
BAY/BROWN GELDING 7YRS
SLOT HOLDER: Birchip-Watchem Football Club
TRAINER: Michael Gadsden
CAREER: 88-12-14-8
PRIZEMONEY: $91,340
5 SOAP AND BUBBLES
BAY MARE 4YRS
SLOT HOLDER: Fillies In Charge
TRAINER: Lisa Pitt
CAREER: 13-6-2-3
PRIZEMONEY: $49,300
6 CURYO GENTLEMAN
BROWN GELDING 6YRS
SLOT HOLDER: Cargill Cares For Community
TRAINER: Rod Carberry
CAREER: 36-8-7-7
PRIZEMONEY: $63,920
BACK ROW
(EMERGENCY 2) 7 UNIQUELY IDEAL
BAY MARE 5YRS
TRAINER: Emma Stewart
CAREER: 20-7-0-1
PRIZEMONEY: $69,300
8 THE BRIDE
BLACK MARE 4YRS
SLOT HOLDER: Ashwood Racing
TRAINER: Alex Ashwood
CAREER: 18-7-3-3
PRIZEMONEY: $97,980
9 MAXY WANTS TO PLAY
BAY/BROWN GELDING 7YRS
SLOT HOLDER: Dunn-Ezy Seed Cleaning
TRAINER: Aaron Dunn
CAREER: 101-17-21-9
PRIZEMONEY: $123,036
(EMERGENCY 1) 10 MADIGAN
BROWN GELDING 6YRS
TRAINER: Tim Mannix
CAREER: 34-11-5-6
PRIZEMONEY: $94,815
11 GOLDEN TRIBE
BAY GELDING 4YRS
SLOT HOLDER: Lewis Family
TRAINER: Tom Rundle
CAREER: 27-9-1-2
PRIZEMONEY: $76,850
12 METEOR MOTH
BAY HORSE 5YRS
SLOT HOLDER: Coffey Family
TRAINER: Emma Stewart
CAREER: 16-8-2-1
PRIZEMONEY: $79,361
