08 November 2018 | Chris Barsby
It’s a busy weekend coming up for the Marburg Pacing Association.
The club will conduct two meetings, racing both Friday and Sunday afternoon with strong fields spread across both days.
A total of 135 horses are listed to start across the two days of racing which will see 16 races staged.
And several are looking to break their run of outs.
At the top of the list is the Brian McCall prepared Ohoka Cooper who starts in the Speed-Action-Winners Marburg Pace on Friday.
The Bettors Delight gelding will start from the coveted inside gate in the 2200m mobile start event with local reinsman Steven Doherty booked to drive.
A winner of 10 races from 76 starts to date, the well-traveled pacer has forgotten where the winning post is situated with his latest victory coming way back in July of 2016 at Gloucester Park in Perth.
Plenty has happened since his latest triumph.
And a lot has changed too.
Ohoka Cooper has traveled across the Nullarbor, making the 3900km trek from Perth to Sydney where he joined the stables of Darren McCall at Menangle.
But the Sydney stint was short lived before heading further up the highway to join the stable of his current mentor.
McCall trained former Albion Park speedster Lebron, a winner of 30 races and $250,000.
“This horse is no Lebron, let’s make that very clear; he’s your typical old style New Zealand type that lacks high speed but grinds away and tries hard every time he starts. His lack of pace is his biggest detriment and he much prefers the longer trips compared the speed racing.” McCall said.
Ohoka Cooper is raced by McCall’s partner, Rachel Beaton.
Originally from New Zealand where he commenced his career with legendary horseman Tony Herlihy, the full-brother to talented performer On The Rantan scored a victory at Cambridge but was later sold to Perth connections following eight starts in his homeland.
Joining the Perth stables of Kade Howson, Ohoka Cooper showed a liking for the Perth style of racing and contested several features including Preludes of the WA Derby, Golden Nugget, 4yo Championship and the McInerney Ford Classic.
During his time in the west, he managed to win 9 races (7 at Gloucester Park) during his time with Howson and then Ray Williams.
His stint in Sydney lasted for only eight starts where he failed to hit the board and his lack of high speed was exposed.
“Darren said he couldn’t match them on the big track and wasn’t suited so he asked if I would take him on. Originally, I struggled to work him out and his form deteriorated but in recent times, he’s actually improved slightly.
“I actually think he would thrive if we staged the long distance stand-start races, he’s not the type you can really use off the gate but he should land a good spot in his race this week.
“The pressure is actually on because big brother Darren had a winner (Fortyeighthenson) at Menangle last weekend while my sister Sharon (Furey) was in the winners list at Redcliffe last night (Wednesday) with Living Grand.”
Meanwhile, Lebron is finally settling into his life of retirement following his decorated racing career.
The Jennas Beach Boy gelding hasn’t raced since July, 2016.
“He took a while to adapt but he’s loving life now, he’s as fat as a fool.”
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