By Mike Hill

DUAL Group finalist Sequana, probably the premier racing bitch in Queensland at present, will certainly be hard to toss in September’s $60,000 Alan Price Memorial Auction Series (520m) at Ipswich.

The $40,000-to-the-winner series was postponed in April due the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sequana (Zambora Brockie-Lilly Sur Seine) is in superb form heading into the three-race feature (heats September 5, semi-finals September 12 and final September 19).

The black sprinter has won her last five starts over the Albion Park 600m.

She then proved the shorter distance would not be an obstacle when she notched a win over 520m at Ipswich when returning to that track on August 22.

Michael Zammit, trainer and spokesman for the Selena Zammit kennels, said the talented chaser didn’t have any trouble dropping back to the 520m journey.

“Her recent wins have been trouble-free  and they should have been good for her confidence,” Zammit said.

He said Sequana was a machine, but admitted an inside draw would be a great advantage.

“She’s a lot better over the 520m if she draws the fence, but in saying that she has won from most boxes.”

Sequana has a stunning 29.48s to her credit after narrowly going down to the sensational Sennachie in the Group 3 Golden Ticket (520m) at Albion Park in late December.

Her only win over the Ipswich 520m (BON 30.40s) – from three starts – came in mid-February but she has obviously matured since then.

From her past 16 outings, the black sprinter has an impressive 12-win, two-placing record and her overall statistic is 15 wins and 10 minor placings from 30 starts with prizemoney approaching $85,000.

Meanwhile, leading trainer Tony Brett isn’t confident his smart sprinter Wolf Racketeer will be ready in time for the rich feature series.

“He’s three weeks off racing,” Brett said late last month. “It’ll be touch and go.”

Wolf Racketeer (Barcia Bale-Cincinnati Juice) hasn’t race since suffering a serious stopper tendon injury in early January.

The highly talented blue fawn dog copped a bad check in a heat of the Group 1 Gold Bullion (520m) at Albion Park, finishing unplaced behind the brilliant Feral Franky.

“Before the injury I was considering him my next Group dog, that’s how much talent he was showing,” the trainer said.

“It’s a serious injury and it can end a career. However, he’s come back well and is trialling nicely. He’s not ready for 500m just yet, he may be two-or-three weeks short. Let’s see.”

Other likely contenders include the Peter O’Reilly-trained Flying Jet, the Ryan Ayre-prepared Brett’s Bentley, Serena Lawrance’s We Get It, Karen Kleinhans’ Magical Revival and the Greg Stella-prepared Len’s Legacy.

Darren Russell’s promising sprinter Marske hasn’t raced since a disappointing unplaced run in the Young Guns final (520m) at Ipswich in late July.

Prior to that his form was excellent including a 29.80s BON run at Albion Park and a 30.48s Young Guns heat win at Ipswich.

Pictured: The outstanding Selena Zammit-trained bitch Sequana in full flight heading for another victory. The talented chaser is the logical favourite for September\’s $60,000  Alan Price Memorial Auction Series (520m) at Ipswich. (Photo: Box 1 Photography)