Saturday's heats of the TAB Million Dollar Chase spiced up at Bulli on Monday with the brilliant Global Impact extending his unbeaten run to 10 starts and Jason Magri's Fire Belly posting very fast time in upsetting track specialist Ritza Vonnie.
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There's little doubt Bulli 400 metres record holder Pindari Express is viewed as the heavy hitter in the series (to be conducted over 472m) but this is by no means an open-and-shut series.
Global Impact extended his record to 13 wins from just 17 starts. High speed is his calling card and, with a personal best time of 26.16s over 472m at Bulli on his resume, connections will not fear any rival in the rich series.
While Global Impact's genuine pace and high class was well exposed, the performance of Fire Belly - to score by a commanding 9 1/4 lengths in 26.03 at his fifth career outing - turned heads.
A quick start from box three had the son of Barcia Bale quickly in the lead and while odds on favourite Ritza Vonnie appeared ill at ease up the inside (from box two), he established a huge mid-race break by means of sustained, high speed.
Running through the line, he could not have been more impressive with his 19.39s second section in the 'rare' category.
On a night of slick times, Peter Sims had three winners from as many runners with the lightly raced Low Flying Crow posting a smart 22.37s win over 400m.