Lovemeto may race in Aussie

Waikato harness racing trainers Graeme Rogerson and Dylan Ferguson hope to take Group One winner Lovemeto (What The Hill) to Australia in October. 

Due to the scarcity of suitable races for his age group in New Zealand, Lovemeto will need to race against tighter assessed trotters. 

“He’s a rating seventy now and there’s not a lot of three year old races for him. I understand he’s won the money and a couple of the big races but essentially, he’s only beaten one and two win trotters and now he’s in amongst the big boys. We’re not complaining too much because we got a couple of the big races out of him,” Ferguson said. 

The $75,000 Group One Victorian Derby at Maryborough on 29th of October is on the radar. 

“It’s a race that’s at the top of the list but there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and then. We’ve got to see how he comes back and see what sort of form he’s in at the time.” 

The Group One $100,000 New Zealand Trotting Derby is the young trotter’s main target. 

“That’s his main aim. It would be awesome to do the Derby double. I know with Graeme having won the New Zealand Derby (thoroughbred) with Sharp ‘N’ Smart. To win both New Zealand Derbys in each code would be a massive achievement.” 

Lovemeto is owned by Rogerson and Australians Merv and Meg Butterworth. 

“They (Butterworths) weren’t here when he took out the Northern Derby and I’m sure they’d be rapt to see him in their own back yard. I’m sure Graeme won’t mind a trip over the ditch either.” 

Ferguson says the Australian trip will depend on giving Lovemeto a solid grounding without over taxing him against the open class trotters. 

“You get a rugby player that’s had a hundred tests versus one that’s had one. Take talent and physicality out of it and mentally it can be torturing against the old brigade, so we’ve got to be careful with where we place him. We don’t want to be home in the box twiddling our thumps either.” 

The three year old won four of his seven starts in the first half of the season, culminating in an impressive three length victory in the $90,000 G1 Breckon Farms 2023 Northern Trotting Derby at the end of May. 

“That (race) was a bit of an afterthought because the Harness Millions was definitely our main aim. We felt it was a race he could win. We thought that if he won that easily then there was no reason why he wouldn’t be competitive in the Derby. The draw was in our favour but he’s a horse that was on the up at the time.” 

Ferguson says Lovemeto is a real opportunist who capitalises when other horses don’t do things right or are not at their best, adding that running him fresh isn’t a problem. 

 “He’s pretty casual and doesn’t get too excited at home. We’ve got good facilities here and other nice horses we’re able to work him with, so going in fresh isn’t a massive issue.” 

He hopes the three year old will develop push button speed. 

“He’s got great manners and he tries his heart out. He ran home in 57.5 in the Harness Millions and the start before that. He probably doesn’t have to get a huge amount faster. Once he gets stronger physically and mentally and hardens up to the top level of racing, hopefully the speed will come. He probably exceeded expectations this time in and we always thought he’d get better in the spring.” 

The gelding had five weeks in the paddock and Ferguson who’s not a fan of spelling young horse too long in winter, says that was long enough. 

“For us it was a matter of getting him back, getting him warm and on a full racehorse feed. If he had it his way, he probably would never have left. He stands at the gate waiting for you every morning and never misses a grain of feed. He loves being in work and in the stables.” 

The training partnership has two quality fillies, Seaclusion (Sweet Lou) and Wicked Wanda (Sweet Lou) going to the workouts on Friday. 

“They’ll be looking at racing mid-August with the view of running in the Nevele R Heats in September (14th and 28th). How they go in those heats will dictate our next move. The problem they’ve got is that they’re up against Millwood Nike (Captaintreacherous).” 

Ferguson is looking forward to three year old trotting filly Shez Bella (Pegasus Spur) resuming her racing career. 

“She was probably a bit off the boil last campaign because she got a bit crook at the start. She’s got more upside than most. She was placed in a Group One race (Ace of Hearts) as a two year old so hopefully she’ll come back as good as or even better.”  

Clearly there’s plenty ahead for the Rogerson/Ferguson barn. 

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink