29 January 2018 | Shane Yates
Harness racing purists enjoyed one of the most exciting nights of high-class racing in Launceston on Sunday night with five of the nine winners recording sub-two-minute mile rates.
Call Her Julie (pictured) was one of the headline acts of the show, notching up her third win of the season by outgunning the highly touted Usain Jolt over the 1680-metre sprint trip.
Owner, trainer and driver Matthew Cooper surged forward on Call Her Julie to find the death seat outside Rocknrollhighlight with the odds-on favourite Usain Jolt having the drop on the pair back in third.
Gareth Rattray kicked Rocknrollhighlight clear turning for home, opening up a four to five metre break with Usain Jolt running to second and Call Her Julie seemingly under pressure third.
However, Call Her Julie was far from beaten rallying strongly over the final 200 metres to gain the upper hand in the drive to the post to win by 1.8-metres, recording a career-best mile-rate of 1:56.2.
Star three-year-old Ignatius overcame obstacles to win the opening race on the card to set the standard for the evening.
The Todd Rattray trained and driven Group 1 winner ran into problems approaching the bell lap when tightened for room by Abs Boy and galloped for a stride, but showed maturity beyond its years to quickly regain composure.
Rattray wasn’t prepared to take any further risks with his star performer and made his move out four-wide at the 800-metre mark.
Ignatius made ground at will and joined the leader Vouvray Beach on straightening for the run to the judge before proving too strong in the run home winning by 2.5 metres.
Ignatius now returns to Menangle, the scene of its greatest triumph in the Breeders Challenge, with the New South Wales Derby in late February his mission.
The three top fancies El Jays Mystery, Barooga Jezza and Iden Amrak fought out the closest finish of the night in Heat three of the Harry Holgate Memorial with the Rohan Hiller trained and driven El Jays Mystery gaining the judges nod by a short half head from Barooga Jezza with the pacesetter Iden Amrak a half head away third.
Talented four-year-old Harjeet pocketed its sixth win from 10 starts with a blistering turn of foot turning for home to seal the deal in the twinkling of the eye while the Tony Peterson prepared Super Max broke through for its first Tasmanian victory at just its second run in the state, making it a one-act affair scoring by 19.3-metres for Ricky Duggan.
Last year’s Easter Cup runner-up Isaac showed he’s on target for another tilt at the feature for Juanita McKenzie and Rodney Ashwood with a barnstorming finish to clinch Carlton Draught Free For All while Mark Yole’s winning run continued when the Peter Dornauf prepared Sea Double Ugrant came from a mile back to run over the top of tearaway leaders Streetside Classic and Koolaz Elvis.
The Troy Hillier trained and driven Gotta Go Henry was headed by Followthewind in the home stretch before digging deep in the final 100 metres, regaining the lead for favourite punters to bring up its second Tasmanian win from only three outings while brother Rohan guiding home recent stable addition Washmepockets in the Claimer.
Watch Gotta Go Henry lift over the final 100 metres after being clearly headed by Followthewind in Launceston on Sunday night.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
