Purdon/Phelan – big guns are loading up

“At the end of the month I’m pretty excited about having those bigger named horses back at the trials and getting them back in the groove,” Clevedon harness racing trainer Scott Phelan who trains in partnership with Barry Purdon said when asked about the second part of the 2024 season.

Purdon and Phelan currently have thirty nine wins on the board in the New Zealand Trainers Premiership and have won $1.6 million in stakes with an excellent UDR of 0.4720.

Classy filly Duchess Megxit (Sweet Lou) won four of her seven starts in the first part of the season, including the G1 Sires Stakes Three Year Old Fillies Championship at Alexandra Park in May.

“She’s trialling at the end of the month and is looking great. She’ll start in the three year old fillies heats in September and go from there,” Phelan said.

Higher Power, (Father Patrick) in his first season of racing won two of his three starts. His last win was in the G3 Young Guns Trotters Series Final.

“We’ve got a big bunch of our better ones trialling on the same day. He’s in that group with Meant To Be. They don’t need to improve too much to be competitive in those big races.”

Aged free legged pacer Mach Shard (Mach Three) stunned the harness world when he won the G1 Taylor Mile and Messenger Championship.

“He’s back. Don’t worry about him, he won’t be going anywhere in a hurry. As long as he’s happy we’re happy. At the moment we’ll have a look at the Cup if he’s going well enough. Our plan is to only race up here and we’re happy to support the club (Auckland) as long as they put on the races.”

Two year old filly Youretheonethatiwant (Captaintreacherous) won three of her four starts, including the G2 Delightful Lady Classic.

“She’s just started fast work. She just had a bit more of a break after the end of her campaign last time. Her first race might be the Caduceus (20^th September). She’s a pretty nice filly that’s for sure. One of the better ones we’ve had in a while.”

Stable star Merlin (Art Major) has won five of his nine starts this season with the $1,000,000 The Race By Grins the highlight.

“He’s great. Every time he has a break he always comes back a bit bigger and a bit better. If he improves a little bit on last time, we’ll be pretty happy.”

When asked about Merlin being a genuine two mile horse – the distance of the New Zealand Cup, Phelan said.

“I don’t see it as a problem. You just couldn’t drive him as you would in a lower distance race. He wouldn’t be able to make his own luck I wouldn’t think. He’s definitely good enough to be competitive in that race.”

Scott is excited about three year old Cold Chisel (Always B Miki) which won two of his eight starts in the first part of the season. His best win was the G1 Northern Derby. He’s earned $196,339 so far this year.

“He’s just had a few hopple runs. Hopefully we can get a run into him before he heads south for a Group One in early October (Flying Stakes). From there, hopefully The Slot race (Show Day) and then the Derby. He’s developed a lot. To say he’s a little different would be an understatement. He looked a different horse when he came back this time in.”

Consistent three year old filly Ultimate Racy Girl (Ultimate Machete) won just one race in the early part of the season but has been placed in the best three year old fillies’ company.

“She’s pretty much going to follow Duchess Megxit everywhere she goes. It would be nice to get past her once. It will be hard but she’s a consistent filly who will pick up a lot of money in this part of the season.”

Three year old Jeremiah (Lazarus) won twice from just the six starts and will be one of the first of the stable’s better horses to return to the races.

“He’s racing this Friday night. He went out after the Derby so he had a good break which meant we could get him back a bit earlier. He’s definitely improved from last time. He’ll be the improver in the three year old races.”

Two year old Confederate (Bettor’s Delight) has had just two starts for a win.

“He’s trialling this week. He’s quite a nice horse with breeding on his side. He’ll definitely improve on what he did last time.”

The stable should be able to achieve a personal best season, surpassing the 57 wins they achieved in 2021.

With the higher end stakes available in this part of the season they could also potentially reach the $3 million stakes mark.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink