By Matt Markham
It’s been a battle but Bob Butt thinks he’s finally on top of things with his talented pacer Hall Of Fame.
The Woodend Beach horseman is reserving his judgement on whether or not he’s completely out of the woods with the raw talent though until he sees what he can do tonight at Addington when he takes on a tidy fields of opposition in the junior drivers’ event.
The son of Rocknroll Hanover boomed onto the scene last season when he won his debut by a crushing eight lengths and it appeared as though good things were in line for the remainder of his three-year-old season.
It was shortly after that win though that things started to go pear-shaped.
“He got real crook when I took him up to Auckland, they think it was travel sickness,” Butt said.
“It really messed up his bloods and we’ve had to do a whole heap of work to get them back to where they should be.
“Even when I brought him back up last time we were still working on them.”
This time around though it’s a lot more positive and Butt has, touch wood, not endured any issues while bringing the pacer up to fitness after a short let up.
“He’s been really good this time in, the bloods have been perfect and I’ve been pretty happy with his work.”
A quiet workout at Methven on Saturday, where he placed behind Outta Sight, will have brought Hall Of Fame forward in his fitness and should see him ready to roll tonight when he steps out onto Addington.
Matt Anderson has secured the drive on the gelding.
“Matt’s a good young driver, I think we have to be competitive but it’s a pretty strong line up, there’s some good horses in there so it won’t be easy.
“I’d be pretty disappointed if he wasn’t right up there though.”
Butt will also line up debutant pacer Hashtag who starts from the unruly in a very strong maiden 2000 metre stand.
“It’s one of the best maiden fields I’ve seen for a while, so it’s not going to be easy.
“If everything fell into place we’d be right there but it’s going to be a big ask.
“He goes pretty good though, I thought his workout at Methven on Saturday was really good.”
With nine horses in work currently, Butt is ticking over nicely as he looks to reach his last season tally of eight winners. With Matatoki sold out of the stable late last season the hunt is on for another rising star like him and Butt said the vacancy sign is always out on the front gate for new horses looking for revitalisation through the use of the beach.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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