by Ken Casellas
Cracking New Zealand bred five-year-old Lets Chase The Dream will resume after an absence of almost five months and will have his first start for Hall of Fame trainer Gary Hall Snr when he contests the $7 Pints At JPs Every Friday Night Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
A winner at 13 of his 33 starts and $469,123 in prizemoney, Lets Chase The Dream was purchased by prominent West Australian owners Beth Richardson, Danny Roberts and Sue Beven after the horse finished a nose second to Classie Brigade at Rangiora on April 23 this year.
Hall said that Lets Chase The Dream, to be driven by Gary Hall Jnr, from the prized No. 1 barrier on Friday night, had been nominated for the TABtouch Inter Dominion championship series at Gloucester Park in November and December.
“We’ll take it easy for a while to see how he goes,” Hall Snr said. “He’s a little bit underdone, but is pretty fit. We will try to lead and he should go well. We don’t want to hand up to Thereugo. He’s working on a par with my good horses, Ohoka Punter and all of them.”
Lets Chase The Dream is an M3-class pacer and should prove far too good for his lower-assessed rivals. He came to Perth in April 2016 when Chris Lewis drove him at his two appearances at Gloucester Park, for a win over Mach Time and Ideal Tyson in a prelude of the WA Derby and a 2m second to Chicago Bull in the Derby final.
He was an outstanding two-year-old who twice beat superstar Lazarus in rich Group 1 events. He beat Lazarus by a neck in the $100,000 Cardigan Bay Stakes at Alexandra Park in March 2015 and scored by a length over Motu Premier and the fast-finishing Lazarus in the $156,400 New Zealand Sires Stakes at Addington in May. Shandale was fourth and Chicago Bull finished ninth in the latter event.
As a three-year-old, Lets Chase The Dream twice finished second to Lazarus in Group 1 feature events in New Zealand. At his latest start, in a Group 3 classic at Rangiora on April 23 this year, Lets Chase The Dream raced in the breeze in the middle stages of the 2600m event before gaining the one-out, one-back trail at the 1400m. He was switched three wide on the home turn and burst to the front 90m from the post before finishing a nose second to the fast-finishing Classie Brigade, rating 1.55.3, with the final 800m taking 54.1sec.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
