Hotasel might just be Australia’s most improved horse and Saturday night he looks to continue his impressive rise through the ranks when he contests the Sokyola Sprint.
A former Sunraysia trained pacer he was transferred to the Toolern Vale stables of John Justice six months ago to race in better quality races and now he is justifying the owners’ belief that he was a serious racehorse.
Justice has been pleasantly surprised, not by his ability but more so with how consistent he is as a racehorse and that has shown with his three runs this time in.
“His run in the Mildura Cup when second behind Arden Rooney when he galloped at the start was terrific so from that point on I knew he was a very good horse but to be as consistent as he is is probably a surprise,” Justice said.
Even from a young age he has always had an abundance of high speed but now Hotasel is developing the strength and race smarts to become a top-liner.
“He finds the line strong and does everything right,” Justice said.
If there is one small blight on him is that he doesn’t handle the stand starts so it all but rules out country cups, but Justice is setting him some very lofty goals in the next couple of months.
“He’ll run Saturday night then he’ll go to the Popular Alm Sprint in two weeks. If all goes well we’ll probably head to Ballarat and then go to Adelaide for the SA Cup, which will be his first major assignment. Then when he comes back to Victoria we have the mobile cups including the Victoria Cup, Ballarat Cup and Bendigo Cup provided he measures up.”
He faces a tough ask from the back row Saturday night but he has been a dominant winner at his past two starts and he looks a terrific chance to make it three on end.
Justice also has Loong Nien engaged in the Group 3 Gordon Rothacker Memorial and he believes if he leads he will run a tremendous race.
“If he can hold the horses drawn out wide and work to the front again he is certainly capable of running very fast times off the front over that trip,” Justice said.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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