Wilson House heads home on a high

Wilson House flew back home to Christchurch a happy man on Sunday night (Feb. 19) after a pleasing week of harness racing results at Manawatu Raceway.

He ended the week on a high when reining home a double for his father Michael House at Palmerston North on Sunday, and led home a stable trifecta in the last.

“It was a great day for the team,” Wilson said, with the stable winning four races on the seven-race card.

“We have had an outstanding week with eight wins, one galloping win and seven up in Palmerston North over the two days.

“We are really lucky to have the people we have got running it (Palmerston North satellite stable).

“Penny Boyle does a fantastic job, she has been up there since before the Hawera meeting. With the weather taking its toll, it has been a huge effort from her.

“It was great from all the horses. A couple that came second and third had only been going average races until today, so it was really good to finish on a high.”

House was particularly pleased with Full Of Desire’s (Sportswriter) win in the K & S Farrier Mobile Pace (2000m).

“Full Of Desire has stepped up a notch and she has gone a fantastic race after winning those two early on for us at Hawera,” House said.

“She was only average on the first day but going one better the next day was fantastic.”

FULL OF DESIRE REPLAY

Juliette Shard’s (Bettor’s Delight) win in the Outback Trading Mobile Pace (2000m) was another highlight for House.

“Juliette Shard has really improved with the trips going up there,” he said. “She has really come into her own. Ferg (Peter Ferguson, driver) spoke very highly of her after the win.”

House’s large Manawatu-based team were set to begin the long journey back to Christchurch on Sunday night, however, ferry issues have delayed those plans.

“We had two of the three trucks booked on the ferry at 2am on Monday morning but we found out midway through the meeting that they are a ferry down, so they are all stuck up there at the moment,” House said.

“They will be getting a few days off now and we will make up our mind on what we are going to do now. We are stuck between islands at the moment.

“The ferries control everything and it can take its toll if the sea is rough or they are a ferry short like they are tonight.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Joshua Smith, for Harness News Desk