He sliced 0.05sec (almost one length) off superstar Shima Shine's previous mark of 24.75sec, set on August 28 last year.

Trained at Pearcedale by Jason Thompson, the marauding Pirate Pete is now after a richer bounty as one of the headline acts in the Ballarat Cup heats on Saturday night. He's engaged in heat three at 7.43pm.

"He's definitely my best chance," Thompson said. "He's going into the series as good as he's ever been. I'm looking forward to how he acquits himself at group level."

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Thompson also has Zambora Lou - a group 3 Healesville Cup winner - and Aussie Secret engaged in the heats.

"Zambora Lou is a very good 'half-circle' dog," Thompson said. "He's in with a chance, but the problem is he's a bit hit-and-miss out of the boxes."

He'll contest heat four at 8.04pm.

Thompson is also buoyant about the chances of serious up-and-comer Aussie Secret.

"He's only a young dog and it's his first crack at a country cup," he said. "It'll be a nice hit-out for him leading into the upcoming group 1 Silver Chief (525m) at The Meadows."

He lines up in heat two at 7.20pm.

The Ballarat Cup final is on December 12.

BALLARAT CUP HEATS

HEAT 1 6.53pm

1 18314BAROOGA DODGE(NSW) [4] 25.37 B Nye (Little River)

2 44157SWIFT CURRENT [5] FSTD M Carter (Kialla)

3 41622SHORT PORK(NSW) [4] FSH A Azzopardi (Rowsley)

4 32311COSMIC OX(WA) [5] FSH P Jones (Hoddles Creek)

5 *** VACANT BOX ***

6 41133HARDEN UP TOMMY [5] NBT C Grenfell (Mount Wallace)

7 24128 MR. FIX IT(QLD) [5] FSH A Langton (Anakie)

8 13211MAHOGANY JET [3] 25.48 A King (Sulky)

HEAT 2 7.20pm

1 21181GOTHAM DUKE [4] 24.87 M Lithgow (Devon Meadows)

2 51228 MEPUNGA SPECTRE [4] 25.15 M Lanigan (Anakie)

3 14143AUSSIE SECRET [5] NBT J Thompson (Pearcedale)

4 31832SHARKY SHARK [5] FSTD C Capuano (Anakie)

5 *** VACANT BOX ***

6 35234 DYNA VIRION(NSW) [5] NBT C Jayakody (Melton South)

7 51314 COCO NOVA [5] FSH D Fisher (Lara)

8 26281YOZO BALE(NSW) [3] 25.14 C Grenfell (Mount Wallace)

HEAT 3 7.43pm

1 21111DREAM WIZARD [5] FSTD S Lithgow (Devon Meadows)

2 18116EINSTEINIUM [5] FSH A Azzopardi (Rowsley)

3 11111PIRATE PETE [4] 24.70 J Thompson (Pearcedale)

4 12412 DANIEL AVOCADO [4] 25.41 J Sharp (Avalon)

5 *** VACANT BOX ***

6 111KAHEEM BALE(NSW) [5] 25.04 M Delbridge (Balliang)

7 11348DR. TUCKER [5] FSH W Mcmahon (Darriman)

8 24152KAISON BALE(NSW) [5] NBT S Grenfell (Mount Wallace)

HEAT 4 8.04pm

1 32131 HAZEY ROY [5] FSH G Selkrig (Devon Meadows)

2 12162FORTUNA BALE(NSW) [4] 25.36 M Delbridge (Balliang)

3 27663STRIDE FOR PRIDE [5] FSTD J Mangion (Numurkah)

4 21224 DO IT(QLD) [5] FSH J Britton (Anakie)

5 *** VACANT BOX ***

6 21518ZAMBORA LOU(NSW) [3] 25.22 J Thompson (Pearcedale)

7 67266WINLOCK DYNO(NSW) [5] 25.91 C Jayakody (Melton South)

8 22123ZIPPING SULTAN(NSW) [4] 25.16 N Mcdonald (Cranbourne)

HEAT 5 8.30pm

1 62644WINSOME FERNANDO(NSW) [ 25.34 C Jayakody (Melton South)

2 12147 HOW NOT TOO(QLD) [5] FSH A Azzopardi (Rowsley)

3 11685LAST HURRAH [3] 25.05 B Nye (Little River)

4 32816SPRING HUMMER(NSW) [3] 25.20 L Delbridge (Balliang)

5 *** VACANT BOX ***

6 34361ASTON MAEVE [5] FSH I Garland (Longlea)

7 27322 ULRICKEN BALE(NSW) [5] FSH D Gibbons (Avalon)

8 35512TINKER CRAIG [4] 25.16 M Tabb (Lara)

HEAT 6 8.54pm

1 15126 ROLLING STONE [3] 25.12 K Pitt (Pearcedale)

2 17111BOUND TO SUCCEED [3] 25.08 N Massina (Golden Square)

3 11323MR. BOB [5] 25.45 B Nye (Little River)

4 13132BENCHESTER [3] 25.19 M Morrissey (Junortoun)

5 *** VACANT BOX ***

6 13451 RUN BABA RUN [4] 26.22 J Galea (Brookfield)

7 73171SPECIAL TALENT(NSW) [5] FSH M Carter (Kialla)

8 12343 JUNK FOOD JUNKIE [4] FSH J Sharp (Avalon)