Harley puts the foot down

By Tim O’Connor (HRV)

Hurricane Harley produced a scintillating final 800m to dominate last Saturday night’s Allied Express Casey Classic, with his first Victorian victory in more than two years putting his name forward as a major player in this weekend’s Del-Re National A. G. Hunter Cup at Tabcorp Park Melton.

The star seven-year-old was only having his second start back for trainer Emma Stewart following a Western Australian campaign and showed he’s still got what it takes to compete at the elite level with a dashing display in the Group 2 feature.

After being unchallenged through the early stages from barrier one, Mark Pitt released the breaks in the last lap and the flashy bay reeled off closing quarters of 27.0 and 26.7 to record a winning mile rate of 1:54.1.

He had more than 3m to spare over A Gs White Socks with Myrniong’s Greg Sugars in the sulky, with Torrid Saint third.

“He felt amazing tonight. He felt like the old Harley again,” Pitt said.

“He’s had those couple of runs now, and if he’s lucky enough to get a run in the Hunter Cup, they’re going to know he’s there for sure.”

The win was Hurricane Harley’s 25th in a 55-start career and his first in this state since December 2020.

He has now collected more than $600,000 in prizemoney.