A fresh Hurricane blows them away

By John Dunne (HRV)

Hurricane Harley may have booked himself a maiden trip north for the winter after leading all the way in the Prydes Easifeed Lazarus Free For All at Melton last Saturday night.

First-up since finishing fourth in the Miracle Mile, Hurricane Harley ($1.90 fav) showed his customary gate speed to cross from a wide front row draw and was afforded a 31.8sec quarter breather before reeling off a 26sec last 400 metres to score from the fast-finishing Bettor Isolate.

Driver Mark Pitt indicated after the race that the seven-year-old could be part of the strong Emma Stewart-trained contingent heading up to contest the Queensland Constellations Carnival later this month.

“I’m sure that they will target some of the better races with him and it’s important that he’s at peak fitness if he is looking towards the Queensland carnival,” Pitt said.

“It was important that we got a little breather there especially since he was first up after a spell, and he’ll benefit from that run.”

Bettor Isolate produced an eye-catching effort at his first outing in free for all company, flying home from midfield to finish third.

Earlier in the night, Queen Elida displayed the grit and tenacity reserved for elite performers in prevailing over her current arch rival Ultimate Stride in the IRT Australia Lenin Trotters Free For All.

Ultimate Stride threw a 28.5sec back straight quarter at Queen Elida, who emerged from the ruck to issue a challenge to the leader as the pair cleared out from the rest of the field rounding the home turn. With Chris Alford throwing the reins at Queen Elida ($1.35 fav), the daughter of Love You refused to yield and stuck to her task resolutely, scoring by a metre-and-a-half on the line from Ultimate Stride with Courage Stride 12 metres away third.

Alford acknowledged the recent racetrack rivalry between his charge and the Chris Lang-trained Ultimate Stride.

“We’ve had three goes with Ultimate Stride now, he’s going great with us getting the better of him the first time and then he got us the second time and we were able to get the job done tonight,” Alford said.

Alford admitted his confidence levels weren’t high on turning for home.

“At the top of the straight the other horse kicked and got about a neck on her and had her measure again, but she tries that hard her head starts wobbling around and she just wants to win. Not many horses have her will to win,” he said.

The Gary and Debbie Quinlan-trained Knights Templar provided Alford with the middle pin of a winning treble when he outsprinted $2.30 favorite Magnetic Terror in the Opus Group Pace.

Alford said the muddling mid-race tempo suited Knights Templar, who was first-up since December last year.

“He went really good, it was probably better going too slow first-up than going too hard and having him off the bit at the 400,” he said.
“The leader got home in 27.1 and he pulled two lengths off it, so he’s done a really good job.”

The reigning Gordon Rothacker Medal winner completed a driving treble aboard the Peter Rixon-prepared Im Presi Belle in the Allied Express Mares Championship.

Im Presi Belle settled at the rear of the small field while the $2.30 favorite Major Grace was tested in the lead during a period which returned a 55.7sec middle 800 metres of the last mile.

Alford pulled Im Presi Belle ($10) four wide on straightening and the daughter of Mach Three produced a powerful finale to score in the three-way photo finish.

Alford was suitably impressed by Im Presi Belle, who had won her previous five starts in NSW.

“You can’t fault five wins and a Canberra Cup in her last five. We needed the right run tonight and she was a long way off them at the half, and it wasn’t like they staggered home in 30 and they still went super quick time, so she did a terrific job,” he said.