By Duane Ranger
Dual New Zealand record holder Heavyweight Hero has been placed on the unruly mark by his trainer/driver for this Friday’s Group 1 $80,000 New Zealand Trotting Derby at Addington Raceway.
Todd Macfarlane made the decision after Heavyweight Hero galloped in two Workouts behind the mobile arm at Pukekohe on Saturday. He recovered to win the left-handed way around and then later in the day galloped at the right-handed mobile start point and was pulled up.
“If it had been any other race I would have just left it, but because it’s a Group 1 on Friday I just want to make sure he gets a clean start. I know I have to sacrifice that for a second line wide draw, but I still think he’s good enough to get around them and win,” Macfarlane said.
Heavyweight Hero was scheduled to leave Auckland in the small hours of Wednesday morning and his flight would be in Christchurch at 7am.
“Apart from being pulled up he’s won his last two workouts since his last race. It is a bit of a concern going into a Group 1 event without any recent racing. It’s been a month now, but I wouldn’t be taking him down there if I didn’t think he was competitive,” Pukekohe-based Macfarlane said.
The 3-year-old Muscle Mass gelding will start from gate 12 in the Paintlab Racing For Jonty sponsored Derby. It will be his first trip away since arriving at Macfarlane’s stable from Christchurch in May last year.
“He’s in really good condition but on Saturday he was just too fired up. He just wanted to race and go hard no matter what gait he tore into. Once he settled he trotted real nice. The unruly mark is a safe and the right move for him at this stage of his career,” Macfarlane said.
Heavyweight Hero settled last (third) after about 100m of Saturday’s 2050m (left handed) mobile and Macfarlane took him to the lead after a lap. They then led for the remainder easily holding out stablemates C K Spur (Josh Dickie) and Sertorious (John Dickie) by one-and-a-quarter lengths and two lengths.
Heavyweight Hero’s winning time was 2:42.9 (2:07.8) and he came home in 61.5 and 29 even. A week earlier he beat open class trotter Scarrymcleary by a neck with a 2:09.2 mile rate.
Heavyweight Hero has set two New Zealand records at his last two Alexandra Park assignments.
Last start (March 10) Heavyweight Hero broke You Rock’s December 2011 New Zealand record by a whopping 2.8 seconds from 20m behind. He trotted the 2700m in 3:27.2 after getting well back and then sitting parked out.
The week before he set a national record for 3-year-old trotters over the 2200m stand from his 10m handicap.
His time of 2:49.8 was 1.4 seconds quicker than Rock Tonight’s New Zealand record, also set at Alexandra Park in March 2015.
“He did them both very easily to be honest,” said co-owner MacFarlane. “He is right up there with the best trotters I have trained and driven. He just feels nice.”
Heavyweight Hero has now won three of his 10 starts and placed in four others for $61,531 in stakes.
He’s placed twice from four starts at Addington Raceway. That was when he was with his former trainer Murray Edmonds. Heavyweight Hero has won his only 2600m mobile start.
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