Merlin will need more magic

Merlin (Art Major) faces a monumental task on Tuesday in the Group One Woodlands Stud Sires Stakes Series Final at Addington Raceway – on harness racing’s biggest stage.

The unbeaten colt has drawn the outside of the second row in a capacity field with a sea of blue (Mark Purdon and Hayden Cullen runners) in front of him.

The Purdon/Cullen team led by Don’t Stop Dreaming (Bettor’s Delight) having drawn two and Sherlock (Vincent) who’s got the number one marble will be hard to beat but Merlin’s driver Zachery Butcher remains confident he has the horsepower to overcome the draw.

“Most years in that race there’s always a train going round, and they burn a wee bit. We’ll need that to happen this year more than likely. He’s got the ability and he doesn’t need to be handy handy. He’s got the speed to pick them up like he did to a nice field at Cambridge. I think he’s a better follower of speed so I’m not too worried,” Butcher said.

Purdon has won seven of the last eight Sires Stakes Finals and on Tuesday he and Cullen have six runners in the two year old classic. 

The race will be very tactical and Butcher certainly has a big task ahead of him, but he’s up to the challenge.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what horses one to six do early. You don’t go out there with a plan, you just watch the race unfold in front of you and make the decisions as you go. I think he’s good enough to make his own luck.” 

Merlin was at Addington on Wednesday at the Cup trial running home in 55.8 to beat race day rival Seve by a head. 

“Really happy with him. I didn’t want to do too much as he’s only a young horse. The race is more about ability and speed than anything else and you don’t have to go out there and go silly six days out. He hit the line strongly and he still had the plug in.”

This could be one of the most interesting races in the Carnival.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink