Lara breeder-owner-trainer Ashlee Terry is chasing a rare mother-son Warrnambool Oaks-Derby double – albeit three years apart! (She was also runner-up with Incineration in last year’s Warrnambool Derby.)

Ash won the 2021 Oaks with Pyrocumulus – a daughter of 2017 Group 1 Sapphire Crown winner Maha Maji Maji.

And now Ash is hoping Pyrocumulus’ ultra-promising son, Destructively (Dec ’21 Barcia Bale), can pull off a ‘demolition job’ in the $10,875 Matko Hire Derby final (450m) – Race 8, 8.07pm – on Thursday night.

Destructively, who will exit from Box 3 in the $7500 to-the-winner final, was an impressive 25.26sec heat winner – around 1L slower than the Dave Geall-trained Aston Fantastic in 25.21sec. (Geall’s retired provincial superstar Ferdinand Boy won the 2021 Warrnambool Derby.)

The remaining heat was taken out by Canya Nitrate, prepared by Jess Hopkins, in 25.30sec.

Owned and bred by the ‘Burn Like Us’ syndicate – comprising Ash and her partner Nathan Rooney – Destructively has won nine races, with two seconds, from 15 starts and $43,795 in prizemoney.

“And from the minute he started trialling, he showed enormous ability.”

Last year, he won a $15,000 first prize defeating Pass The Buck in the Highway 31 Maiden Challenge (300m) at Healesville and later went on to claim the Healesville Puppy Championship (350m).

In fact, eight of his first 10 races – resulting in six wins – were at Healesville.

“He’s easy going, very laid-back,” Ash said. “Nathan broke him in and he’s the quickest breaker we’ve had at that particular track.

“And from the minute he started trialling, he showed enormous ability. He was running similar times to our race dogs.”

Ash added Destructively had done most of his preparation for racing around the ‘circle’ but just wasn’t ready for a ‘500’.

“I don’t like starting them around two-turns too early. I try to spoil them a little bit and decided to freshen him up and drop him back in distance. Hence, the ‘Highway 31’ was planned – we waited for that race.”

WATCH: “Destructively kicked clear and goes on to beat Ice Bath Forth.” DESTRUCTIVELY (B5) displays devastating pace in a Warrnambool Derby heat.

As for Destructively’s Warrnambool Derby prospects, Ash says “a lot will depend on where we sit early”.

“I’m happy enough with his draw, but Aston Fantastic (Box 2) will be hard to beat if he leads. He and Canya Nitrate (Box 6) are our main dangers, and we probably need to lead to win.”

So, what’s next on the agenda for Destructively?

“We may push him up to ‘500’, but we’ll wait and see how he handles this preparation. It will probably be The Meadows if we go down that path, but we’ll look after him as best we can.”

Pawnote: Destructively has a litter brother, Humidity – also raced by Ash and Nathan – who is showing potential. He’s won six races from nine starts.

And Pyrocumulus has a second litter (3 males, 5 females), sired by Bernardo, which was whelped on August 15 last year.

Destructively ‘dismantles’ his rivals in last year’s Healesville Puppy Championship  📷 Jason Mckeown