By Matt Markham
Greg Hope made a scary confession in the wake of Enghien’s New Zealand Trotting Derby on Friday night.
Not long after his rising star had dealt to his rivals in the $80,000 feature the Woodend Beach trainer, who trains with his wife Nina, was already pondering his next step with the dour son of Love You and that’s Auckland.
A lot of trainers might feel hesitation about the prospect of heading North to race a new way around, but Hope was buoyant about the prospect.
“He’s actually better trotting the Auckland way around,” Hope added.
“So I’m looking forward to getting him up there, he’s going from strength to strength at the moment.”
A second line draw and a sweeping move around the field weren’t enough to stop Enghien.
He went to war with the pace-making Musculus and also northern raider, Heavyweight Hero from almost the 800 metre mark and although his winning margin wasn’t huge, it was authoritative.
“I think he could have won by a lot more if I had asked him too,” driver Ricky May said.
By winning, Enghien secured bragging rights over his high-class stable mate, Monbet.
For all his subsequent success, Monbet was unable to win a Group One as a three-year-old, bowing to Speeding Spur on more than one occasion.
Enghien is raced by Hope and long-time stable supporter, Richard Delleca.
They purchased him as a yearling from the yearling sales from stock offered by the late Carl Middleton.
Middleton’s wife, Heather, was on track to witness the success on Friday night and Hope said it was great for her to be there.
“It’s a wonderful breed, Carl’s breed,” Hope said.
“And Heather being here to see this horse is great, she’s actually taken a share in the yearling we purchased at the sales from Another Love which is great too.”
While over the moon with his young trotting star, Hope was more than a little perplexed with the performances of his two open class trotters in the Fred Shaw Memorial New Zealand Trotting Championship.
Everybody Knows finished second last in what was his worst performance of the season while Quite A Moment also disappointed despite doing mid-race work to get on the speed, finishing seventh.
“Everybody Knows heads to the paddock now, he’s done a great job this time in and deserves a good break before bringing him back up for Cup time.
“I’m not sure what to do about Quite A Moment, her work at home is fantastic but something isn’t quite right out on the track.
“We will have a good hard think about whether we head to Auckland or not.”
Meanwhile everything looks positive in regards to Monbet as he enjoys some leisure time in the paddock.
“All the scans and everything are really good and he’s really bright in the paddock.”
Hope plans to return the reigning Horse of the Year to work once he returns from the Rowe Cup Carnival.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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