By Matt Markham
The man who is regarded as our best trainer of trotters looks to have another classic squaregaiter on his books.
And by the time the two-year-old trotting season is done and dusted, even this early on in proceedings, it’s hard to imagine that Habibi Inta won’t be somewhere near the top of the class.
With all the usual attributes of a Paul Nairn trained runner, the well-bred youngster made the most impressive of debut efforts at Addington last night.
Nursed quietly by Blair Orange, the Love You colt looked still to be very much the raw package as he switched on and off during the running but when the business end of the race arrived he knuckled down the task and won stylishly.
“He’s got a lot to learn, but there’s a fair motor there,” Orange said.
“He was mucking about a fair bit coming off the back straight and it probably looked like he was struggling to keep up with them but when I really asked him to let down he did.
“He’s going to be quite exciting when he gets it all together that’s for sure.”
The sixth foal of good producing mare, Ten To One to make it to the races, she is also the sixth winner.
A dour wee race mare trained by Dick Petrie to win six races herself she’s left; Ten Too (7 wins), Releven Dream (4), Habibti (15), Lothario (4) and Habibti Ivy (3).
While the winner was excellent, the runner-up performance of Miracle Rising was equally as impressive.
The Gavin Smith trained son of Muscle Mass and Whosinthenest unwound stylishly from back in the field and looked all over the winner at the half way down the straight.
He found the line strongly, but not strongly enough to usurp Habibi Inta.
Last night proved to be a good night for Orange who picked up three winners.
He picked up three winners all totalled, with the other two coming from the Ken Barron stable.
Punters who backed Chittybangbang into short odds were nervous at the 400 metre mark when appeared to labour but when Orange let down he showed a clean pair of heels to pick up his opposition and win nicely.
“He’s a nice horse who will do a nice job this season, we’ve just got to pick and choose our battles with him I think,” Orange said.
The third win came from Swamp Major who kept his unbeaten record as a three-year-old.
After working hard to find the lead early he was too classy for his opposition to bring up the third win of this season with his only two defeats so far coming at the hands of Lazarus.
“I think he deserves a shot at a race like the Derby now, he’s just getting better and better.”
Orange’s three wins followed a five win haul last weekend and they now see him on 61 wins for the season.
Robert Dunn extended his lead on the trainers premiership over Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen to four with the sole victory last night.
It came courtesy of Mach Cruiser in the amateur driver’s race and can be put down to a confident front running drive from Ray Reekie who took luck out of the equation and dominated from the top.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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