Clayton Harmey says his quartet of three-year-old geldings are ready to follow stablemate Major Bob into semi-finals of the NSW Breeders Challenge through heats at Newcastle Paceway on Friday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Harmey has a stable deep with three-year-old talent and six step out in the colts and gelding qualifiers.
Major Bob dominated his Tamworth heat last month ahead of fast-finishing stablemate Big Black Diamond to progress to the semis.
Big Black Diamond is also likely to qualify with his second place but he will have another shot at victory from gate two in heat two at Newcastle. Harmey also has Bobsled Boy (gate three) and Mister Woodport (eight) in the race.
In the other heat, the Cessnock trainer has Max Power (one), Fire And Sword (six) and Shades Of Heaven (three).
Bobsled Boy, Max Power, Shades Of Heaven and Fire And Sword were all unplaced behind Major Bob at Tamworth. Fire And Sword broke early and finished last.
Harmey does not expect Mister Woodport or Shades Of Heaven to challenge on Friday night but he said the others were training well and primed to produce.
"If those four horses don't perform well, I'll be very disappointed," Harmey said.
"Bobsled Boy was racing very well before his last two runs and I think it was more driver error why his form tapered away.
"He's good now. I was expecting him to run a wee bit better at Tamworth but Jemma [Coney] was in front of the stablemates and went back to the inside and got held up. We'll go forward with him.
"Big Black Diamond, with Tom [Ison] on him, he keeps surprising us. He went really well at Tamworth and the ground he made up on Major Bob was unbelievable. He's trained on really well again."
Harmey was wary of the Rickie Alchin-trained Black Hawk Joe (gate nine) in the heat featuring Max Power and Fire And Sword but he believed the front-line draw would be crucial.
"Max Power hasn't been 100 per cent of late but he's right now," he said. "He's ready to go and he has the good draw. There's no real excuses for him.
"At Tamworth, it looked like he did nothing but he was never going to beat Major Bob.
"Fire And Sword goes very nice as well and Cameron Hart is back on him.
"They are both good chances and were probably my next best two hopes out of all my three year olds after Major Bob. Unfortunately they've had to clash."
In the two 3YO fillies heats, Harmey has Dollys On A Roll in the second heat from gate six. She was second in her heat at Tamworth and likely to already be in semis.
Harmey believed Dollys On A Roll was in the weaker of the two heats.
"She's a pretty good horse and she's got a good race," he said. "Her run at Tamworth was very good. Blake [Hughes] didn't drive her hard enough and let the favourite get in front.
"She sat outside of it, did all the hard work and was off the track early, and she only got beat a couple of metres."
While you're with us, did you know the Newcastle Herald offers breaking news alerts, daily email newsletters and more? Keep up to date with all the local news - sign up here
IN THE NEWS:
- DAVID KLEMMER: Mitch Barnett's 'emotional week' ahead of NRL finals debut with Knights
- NRLW: Belmont's Caitlan Johnston sidelined for season with knee injury
- Newcastle RL: Maitland Sportsground will host 2020 finals series
- Newcastle RL: Friday night lights for Goannas, Lakes at Cessnock Sportsground
- NNSW NPL: Lambton Jaffas bolster coaching depth for next year