Britton Holds Warragul St Leger Ace

JEFF Britton says box one makes fastest qualifier Weblec Ace the pick of his three finalists in Saturday night's Group 3 Warragul St Leger (460m).

Four heats of the $25,000 to-the-winner St Leger were held on Tuesday night and Britton snared a winning double, courtesy of Weblec Ace and Weblec Jack, well-bred Kinloch Brae – Weblec Rose litter brothers.

Weblec Rose (Dyna Tron – Snow Excuse) was a finalist in the Group 2 Sandown Laurels in 2014, while litter sister Weblec Belle, won the Group 2 All Stars at Cannington in 2016 and Group 3 Brian Johnstone Memorial in 2014.

Britton added a third finalist when Mepunga Daniel, another blueblood, ran second in his heat.

"They hadn't seen the track before so I didn't know what to expect," Britton said.

"It was a bonus to get the three of them through to the final and I've also got the two reserves (Spearhead and Mister Harlewood) as well."

Weblec Ace ($3.60) claiming qualifying honours when leading all-the-way from box six in heat two, clocking a best of night 25.66s, his sixth win from 11 starts.

Weblec Jack ($9.50), a finalist in the Group 1 Vic Peters Classic at Wentworth Park last month, then gave Jeff Britton a heat-to-heat double when edging out favourite Eight Ball in 25.76s, improving his record to a similarly impressive six from 13.

"You wouldn't expect Weblec Ace to jump like that again," Britton said.

"He jumps okay but he seemed to jump a length in front. He's drawn the red for the final so I'd be happy to see him begin like that again.

"Weblec Jack probably trials a little bit better than Weblec Ace. He's drawn box six but he will run straight.

"It's a really nice litter. They started off in the same maiden at The Meadows, which Weblec Ace won. Mister Harlewood finished third."

Mepunga Daniel, a superbly-bred son of Barcia Bale and Mepunga Nicky, making him a full brother to Group 1 winner Mepunga Blazer, then joined the Weblec siblings in Saturday's final when chasing home two-time Group 2 finalist Curt Lee in the final heat.

"Mepunga Daniel has an enormous amount of speed," Britton said.

"He tends to miss it a half and then he gets going. I'd prefer him to be drawn inside but he's no slouch; he ran 29.50s at Sandown in a maiden final and his last run before Warragul he ran 25.28s at Ballarat.

"He was in a bit of trouble in his heat so he did a good job to qualify."

After drawing box one, from where he's undefeated in two previous assignments, posting 29.40s at Sandown and 29.92s at The Meadows, Weblec Ace is the shortest of Britton's trio in TAB's market, sharing the second line of betting with Andrea Dailly's undefeated Shima Shine at $4.

Recent Group 1 Maturity finalist Get It Gizmo, trained by Harry Manolitsis is the $3.20 favourite.

Mepunga Daniel is at $14 from box eight, while Weblec Jack is a $17 chance from the six.

"I'd say Weblec Ace is our best chance but nobody can put a foot wrong because it's a really good field," Britton offered.

"There's some up and coming stars in the race, like Dailly's dog (Shima Shine). It could be a future Warragul Cup field in six months' time."