By Matt Markham
Not many would have predicted that Greg and Nina Hope’s first major trotting win for the season would come from Harrysul.
So when the ungainly, but effective, trotter burst along the running rail in yesterday’s DG Jones Banks Peninsula Trotting Cup at Motukarara there were plenty scrambling for the form guides to try and figure out where a performance like that had come from.
Not the Hopes’ though, they were pleasantly surprised of course, but they’ve always had a bit of time for the horse.
“It’s always been there, we’ve just had to juggle a few things along the way,” Greg said.
“He’s not the most fluent of trotters are you can see, but he’s actually very powerful and you can’t really feel the we hitch he has when you’re driving him.
“His form recently has been a lot better than what it probably looks, he finished last when we last took him to the races but he raced three wide and still trotted a bit of time so I wasn’t ready to give up on him.”
Now a four time winner on the grass, Harrysul has always shown a liking to the greener surfaces and he’s also been able to transition the high speed he possesses from the grit track to the grass.
Trapped away four back on the fence yesterday while Bordeaux tried to run them off their feet from the front Harrysul and Rocky May looked to be in a bit of trouble coming off the back straight.
May’s never one to panic though. He bided his time and waited for the gap, then when Harrysul got through, he did the rest.
“It was a pretty big performance I thought,” Hope said.
“To come from where he did, especially with those other ones in front of us, was a great run.”
Hope will now look toward Addington in a couple of weeks for Harrysul as his headaches begin around placing four open class trotters and then finding drivers if they all end up together.
Monbet will be the pick of the bunch as he continues to work toward a resumption at Ashburton later this month.
There’s also Harrysul, Quite A Moment, who returns in this week’s Canterbury Park Trotting Cup at Addington, and Phil’s Gift who is proving to be a headache created of his own in his current form.
“We’ve got a bit of working out to do, and so does Ricky. He’ll obviously drive Monbet but we are going to have clash some horses somewhere down the track.”
The Woodend Beach stable went to a six win lead on the premiership with a winning double yesterday.
They now sit on 16 thanks for the victories of Harrysul and maiden trotter, Ella Abbe.
Robert Dunn is next on the list with 10 winners.
Yesterday’s Motukarara meeting was another great day at the track for Jessica Young.
The talented horsewoman, who has enjoyed big days in the sulky at Motukarara before, picked up a winning double.
She produced a well-timed finish on Maybe Flyin to get home during the middle stages of the day before Clasina Maria, who is trained by her father Paul, smashed them in the last race, winning by more than five lengths.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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