Christen Me gives Tetrick 9998
As the third leg of a driving treble, former New Zealand champion Christen Me gave North American driver Tim Tetrick his 9,998thcareer driving success on Thursday night.
Driving at Dover Downs in Delaware, Tetrick reined home both Christen Me and his former New Zealand stablemate Baileys Rock for trainer Jim King and owner Richard Pollucci.
Christen Me ran 1.51 for the mile in a US$30,000 Preferred Pace, further adding to his incredible Australasian record which netted connections over $2.4 Million in stakes.
Bailey Rock made it two wins from two American starts with a 1.52.3 victory.
Both horses were trained in West Melton by Cran Dalgety before being sold earlier in the year.
Christen Me is perhaps the best-performed New Zealand pacer of the past five years, winning 10 Group 1 features including the Auckland Cup, Miracle Mile, Victoria Cup and Hunter Cup.
House and Orange win half the card
It was mission accomplished for Cantabrians Michael House and Blair Orange in Palmerston North on Thursday night, the pair winning half of the eight-race card as a combination.
House took seven horses across the Cook Strait earlier in the week, believing he would be a strong chance of winning a number of races across the two-day meeting.
And Orange, in the early stages of what might be a titanic drivers’ premiership battle with Dexter Dunn, was up for the trip too.
“When I asked Blair last week, he said he was very keen,” said House.
“So keen that he booked his flights before I even nominated the horses.”
It paid off, with the House-trained Hunter Bromac, Port Delight, Shillelagh and Bettor Ask Me all victorious.
The four races last night were worth between $10,000 and $11,400 and that, says House, gave him all the motivation he needed to lug a team inter-island.
“It makes it an easy sell to the owners when the stakes are good like that; it makes for good business.”
The Dorchester cuts tongue
Classy three-year-old The Dorchester has been scratched from his engagement at Addington tonight due to a mouth injury.
“He’s just got a bit of a cut on his tongue,” said trainer Mitch Kerr.
“It’s nothing major but it’s enough to mean he won’t race in the final Sires Stakes heat this week.
“I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
Kerr has 11 days to get his exciting colt right for a crack at a $25,000 race at Addington on New Zealand Cup day (Tuesday week).
“We will find a nice race for him on Cup Day and then maybe tip him out for a quick spell with a view to tackling the Derbies later in the season.”
The Dorchester set an all-comers national record for 2400 metres when winning at Ashburton on Labour Day.
- NZ Harness News
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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