NZ HARNESS NEWS
Temporale proved form is temporary and class is permanent when he easily won the Group 2 $50,000 Trotters Flying Mile at Cambridge on Monday.
The two-time Group 1 winner showed he was over a recent virus when scoring in the hands of trainer Tony Herlihy on a slushy track.
Herlihy actually trained the quinella with The Almighty Johnson and the trip home will have been all the sweeter given earlier in the day Mr Yips made it three on end for the stable.
Temporale suffered a setback in the lead-up to last month’s Dominion Handicap at Addington, contracting a virus in late October which saw him miss both Kaikoura, the Cup trials and the New Zealand Trotting Free For All.
The disrupted preparation, which included three delayed flights and landing on race morning, showed when he could only manage ninth behind Marcoola.
He returned home to Auckland and in two subsequent starts ran fourth and sixth, both from wide draws.
From a handier draw (five) at Cambridge today, and with key opponents Lemond and Amaretto Sun drawn outside and behind him, he was poised to take advantage.
Herlihy slotted in to the one-one early before popping around to be parked at the half-mile when he spotted Lemond coming three-wide.
It proved the winning of the race, Temporale too strong for his stablemate from ‘the chair’ and late gallops by challenging Lemond and Amaretto Sun, who trailed, only confirming what was already likely.
Southern mare Hey Yo, capitalising on some good fortune, finished up the markers for third ahead of Everybody Knows.
Also on the Christmas Eve card, local horseman Kyle Marshall drove a pair of winners, including the debuting Live Reactor, which he trains.
And classy mare Utmost Delight had a hit-out ahead of next week’s Auckland Cup, winning a standing start handicap off a capped back mark of 35 metres for trainer Steven Reid and driver Zachary Butcher.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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