NZ HARNESS NEWS
Things aren’t going too bad for Tim Trathen at present.
With his body “getting a bit tired and sore” from years of farrier work, the West Melton horseman has turned to training a few more horses.
And not only does he have two nice prospects of his own, both of which line up at Addington on Thursday night, but he’s also the go-to pre-trainer for the country’s premier stable.
“I have eight here for Mark (Purdon) and Natalie (Rasmussen) at the moment, plus four of my own.
“It’s a nice number and things are working out well at present.”
Purdon and Rasmussen don’t just send him mid-grade horses, either.
“Luby Lou is here at the moment on the way back from a leg injury.
“I’ve also got Sicario, Jesse Duke, War Dan Delight, A Bettor Act and a full brother to Ultimate Machete which I really like.
“Phil Kennard (co-owner) rung the other day to check in on him and I told him to tell Mark that I lost that one, because I don’t want to send him back.
“I usually get them all down to a mile-and-a-half in 3.30, depending on how long they’ve been out, and then they go back to All Stars.
“They are all lovely horses here at the moment; I’ve probably got one of the nicer teams in Canterbury.”
While those ones aren’t in Trathen’s name, Blue Coman and Dadndave are, and both will start well-supported at Addington.
Blue Coman, a three-year-old trotting son of Monkey Bones, has been placed twice in three starts, and has twice produced huge recoveries after galloping off the mobile.
He’s back to a stand this week and will start second favourite behind Scarlett Banner.
“He’s still not 100 percent in his gait and I haven’t really been able to drive him out.
“But he’s just got so much speed and his manners are usually good.”
At Addington last Friday night, he galloped and lost 20 lengths at the start but still managed to run second to Take After Me
“It was quite windy and the mobile was bouncing around and he just baulked it and galloped.
“I couldn’t believe how close he came to winning. I just thought I would tag on and run up the fence.
“He didn’t catch them until the 700 – it was a great run.”
Naturally, the calls have been coming thick and fast, but a sale deal hasn’t been reached as yet.
“We turned down good money last Thursday, so I hope goes good this week or I might look like an idiot.
“After this week, I might give him a wee break and set him for some nice races later in the season.”
Bettor’s Delight colt Dadndave put in some good races without winning as a juvenile but was just fair last week after a tough resuming run.
“He’s been working good enough but I thought he might have stuck on a wee bit better last week.
“If he doesn’t go any good this time, I don’t know what I’ll do.
“The way he’s been working, he should be a good chance, especially from the nice draw.”
He’s another one that has had garnered a fair bit of interest from agents, but nothing suitable has materialized just yet.
“We had a few offers last season but turned them down thinking that even if he only held his form at three, he’d still be valuable.
“There has been a couple looking at him the last couple of weeks and I’m sure he’ll do a good job in the long run, wherever he ends up.”
- NZ Harness News
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