The Parkes Harness Racing Club will farewell 2015 on Thursday night with its feature meeting of the season. A big crowd is expected with a fireworks display on track after the last race adding to the trackside entertainment. Sparks look set to fly on the track, especially in the Langlands Hanlon Sprint, with a number of metropolitan performed horses engaged.
The Geoff Harding trained Strathlachlan Andy has returned from a recent trip to Queensland and will be looking to return to the winners’ list after finishing third in his two runs at Albion Park. Reinsman Matthew Harding will be back in the sulky after winning on the six–year-old in early October.
“I couldn’t get the time off work to go to Brisbane to drive up there so I missed the trip to Queensland but I’m looking forward to driving Strathlachlan Andy at Parkes,” Matthew Harding said.
“I thought his runs at Albion Park were really good, he was caught deep at his second run up there and just kept on trying but I don’t think Thursday night’s race is any easier.”
While Strathlachlan Andy has been driven aggressively as he has made his way through the grades, Harding believes he will need to be more conservative going forward.
“It doesn’t get easier from here. He is always going to be racing a nice horse in this class so we might need to be a bit quieter with him in the early and middle stages.
“This week there are a few good chances and I would be very surprised if they didn’t break 1:58.0 – I don’t want to go in with a preconceived plan but I’m confident there will be speed on from the start.”
Harding confirmed the family did consider taking Strathlachlan Andy to Bathurst for the Shirley Turnbull Memorial last weekend.
“Parkes was always on the agenda because he has been balloted out of a few races and we knew the handicappers couldn’t leave him out of the feature sprint.
“We did toy with the idea of going to Bathurst and while we know he couldn’t have beaten that field, he might have been able to run a place with the right run.”
Harding has nominated Satellite Ace as the horse to beat on Thursday.
“It looks set to get a nice run through in the early stages off the back row so Satellite Ace is a logical danger but there are a number of other chances.”
The Langlands Hanlon Sprint is race four on the card and is scheduled to begin at 7:47pm.
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