Gun driver in fine form

Gun harness racing reinsman Rob Morris spends half his week on the road – and it usually pays dividends as he lands winners all over the state.

Fresh from a Saturday night double, Morris is back on his favourite hunting ground at Menangle on Tuesday (Sep. 13) as his wife KerryAnn heads there with eight winning chances on the nine-race program.

Rob landed winners with Port Au Prince (Somebeachsomewhere) and The Black Prince (Bettor’s Delight) on Saturday night (Sep. 10) with former Kiwi pacer Port Au Prince scoring at just his second run for the Morris stable in accounting for Heaven On High and Black Hawk Joe in a heat of the Carousel, thus qualifying for a $50,000 final this Saturday evening.

“Port Au Prince looked a good chance in his race but I really wanted to see if he could take the next step,” said Morris.

“And he seems to have taken it pretty well.

“For the first and second horses to break 27 seconds in the final quarter over the 2300m journey – well, they were probably the only horses to do that in the Carousel heats.

“He seems to be getting better all the time and has really adapted well to the Australian way of life.

“He is one of those Kiwis who has come here straight off the place and settled in really well.”

Morris also had nothing but praise for The Black Prince, a former Len Smith Mile winner who rated 1:50.7 in accounting for a smart free-for-all field.

“The whole Roy Roots junior team does a great job with him as I only see him when he comes to the races and he looks an absolute picture.

“He always seems to get better as his preps go on too and for him to come out second-up and go that well was terrific.

“I was a little bit worried when his sectionals first-up were off the chart. I thought that might have knocked him around a little bit but he came out and went 1:50 on Saturday, which was great.”

THE BLACK PRINCE REPLAY

After a busy day at Newcastle yesterday, Morris heads to Menangle today with six drives, with five of them for his wife’s burgeoning stable.

The best of those appears to be in Race 6 where he will drive the speedy Im Bills Last, who has been installed a $2.50 early favourite on the back of a close sixth last week, when he loomed up menacingly in the straight before dying on his run.

For complete race fields, click here.

by Michael Court, for HRNSW