In a masterful display of driving Blair Wilmott has put himself into a commanding position after the first two heats of the NZ Champs in Cambridge last night.
First up behind the old warhorse Vanhalem he squeezed him into a nice trailing position as the field entered the first bend. The lead was held by Sheryl Wigg behind Xmas Bay but she was given no respite in front with first Alan Edge behind Highview Justice having a little look and then as soon as he got out of the way Bruce Hadley had a serious look for the lead.
Blair exited the trailing position with 600m to run and then launched three wide with 500m to run. True to his record Vanhalem stuck on strongly to carve out the ninth win of his career.
In a testament to the evenness of the second heat the betting market was very well spread until the eventual winner Liberal Arden was backed in late to favouritism. Out quickly from barrier four Blair rated Liberal Arden nicely in front for a comfortable win. With two wins to his credit Blair has a nice buffer at the head of the field, but due to the tight nature of the scoring system one bad result could see the chasing pack over haul him.
A fantastic effort from the North Island Amateurs to conjure up two very even fields, well done to all involved and now it is up to the Southerners to deliver at least two fields and fingers crossed we can make it three.
| Heat1 | Heat2 | Sub-Total | |
| Blair Wilmott | 13 | 13 | 26 |
| Alan Edge | 8 | 11 | 19 |
| Bruce Hadley | 11 | 7 | 18 |
| Cheree Wigg | 10 | 8 | 18 |
| Warren Rich | 9 | 8 | 17 |
| Ival Brownlee | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| Peter Cook | 7 | 8 | 15 |
| Sheldon Murtha | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| Sheryl Wigg | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| Colleen Negus | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| Steve Phillips | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| Neil Munro | 3 | 5 | 8 |
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
