21 June 2024 | HRNSW MEDIA | MICHAEL DUMESNY
Captains Knock will have his last hit out at Menangle on Saturday night before heading north to Queensland for the Winter Carnival.
Trainer-driver Brad Hewitt has carefully plotted the star pacer’s course towards the $2.1million Eureka on September 7 and was happy with the stallion’s return to racing after a four-month break when he appeared sharp in scoring at Menangle a fortnight ago, rating 1:51.6 for the mile trip.
“He will have the run tomorrow night and then head to Queensland to contest the Rising Sun,” said Hewitt.
“Being announced as the slot runner for the Cordina family (for the Eureka) early in the process has really been a luxury for me.
“I have been able to give him a good spell and bring him back under his own steam.
“His first up run was super.
“But there is no hiding in this grade when coming back from a spell.
“You’ve got to have these horses that are at the top level fit and ready to go from the outset and it was great to see him perform so well first up.
“Win, lose or draw, tomorrow night’s run will top him off perfectly and will give him good grounding to head to that feature race at Albion Park in three weeks’ time.”
Fellow Goulburn trained pacer and Eureka contender Extreme Sea will also make the trip north for the $355,000 three and four-year-old classic.
Extreme Sea consolidated his star quality back in May when he made a mess of his opposition in the TAB Metropolitan Championship and then the State Final.
Prepared by David Hewitt, Extreme Sea has been driven by Brad in those feature wins but as the trainer of Captains Knock, he will be committed to driving him, leaving Hewitt senior to drive his own pacer.
“It is a bittersweet situation for me as I have a high regard for both horses, fortunate to have driven each of them to win very nice races,” he said.
Captains Knock will start from the outside barrier over the Menangle mile and although he comes up against a smart field of open class pacers, he should add another win to his impressive 13-win record.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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