Addington feature preview – Canterbury Classic

The “Road To the Cup” continues on Friday night at Addington with the running of the Canterbury Classic at Group 2 level.

The Canterbury Classic is a classic indeed with the history of the race filled with the great names of New Zealand harness racing.

A few of those names … Arapaho, Robalan, Lord Module and Locarno, add In Bonnie’s Chance (twice) then Master Mood and Elmer Gantry (twice again) and the terrific Inky Lord. How about Chokin and Lento, Jack Cade and Tribute, they won too. Then, just for good measure, mention the greats in Monkey King, Terror To Love, Lazarus and Spankem, all of whom have proven too good for their race rivals when winning in recent editions.

The race really has a remarkable ability to bring out the best in the very best!

The feature this year has attracted a strong field of genuine open-class horses.

Here’s a short look into the best chances.

Self Assured, NZ Cup victor of last year, is back and behind the tapes once again and will look to double up after a brilliant display to score in the race when victorious over stablemate Spankem last year. While this is his first start back he does appear ready enough after some strong trial efforts over the last 3 weeks or so. His #5 draw looks a favourable one although, as we saw at times last NZ Cup campaign, the son of Bettor’s Delight does have a habit of bungling the start. This front-line draw appears a good test of his maturity.

He’s joined by two Northern visitors in South Coast Arden and Kango, both of which should attract support given their known abilities. South Coast Arden won a Rangiora trial with a touch of arrogance last week and could well be the most progressive horse here. He’ll have to overcome an unruly draw but does have the services of Natalie Rasmussen.

Other chances include the brave Southerners who all put in strong Hannon Memorial runs.

Pembrook Playboy, luckless in the “Hannon” comes up with a nice #6 barrier and could well jump to the front this time around while Vintage Cheddar (drawn #8) was also starved of room late at Oamaru and does have a real liking for the Addington track. Robyns Playboy, who hit the line with purpose from a good mid-race sit in the Hannon, draws #7. It’s great to have such a strong contingent of Southern raiders in the field!

Then there’s the Jenna and Robert Dunn trained runners in Classie Brigade (drawn #1) and the in-form Henry Hubert ( drawn #3) Henry Hubert really does look to be in his prime this time in and should, once again, pose problems here if he’s able to step cleanly and remain handy to the speed throughout. His Hannon Memorial victory was very good and a bullish run in the “Classic” would put him among those regarded as genuine winning chances for the Cup in a few weeks time.

The field is rounded off by the the Regan Todd trained That Alexander Guy and the Brett Gray trained Memphis Tennessee.

Overall it’s an excellent feature. I’d really like to see a genuine tempo, disappointingly, that’s something we seldom see in these lead-in races.

Ben McMillan