Chase A Dream back in Flying Stakes

The $100,000 Group One Canprint Flying Stakes which received twenty five nominations, has been whittled down to fourteen starters and will see the return of the classy harness racing pacer Chase A Dream (Captaintreacherous). 

Trained by Mark and Nathan Purdon, the three year old comes into the race in a fresh state after having two quiet trials.  

“Very happy with him. He’s come back a lot stronger this time round. He’s a class horse who’ll carry on to bigger things for sure,” Nathan Purdon said. 

Chase A Dream gets a major draw advantage over his main rivals Cold Chisel, Harrison John and We Walk By Faith. 

“The first furlong of that race will be very interesting. He has the gate speed to use the draw. We just hope he doesn’t have to burn too much petrol at the start. He’s where he needs to be to win the race if everything unfolds the right way.”    

Purdon Racing’s other starter Vessem (Vincent) proved his toughness in his last start, outmuscling Helium. He hasn’t been favoured by the draw, getting an outside second row marble. 

“He’s come back a different horse. This time round he wants to be out there and has got a will to win. It was a bit of a maturity thing early on and he wasn’t really his complete self. He looks the part now but has got an awkward draw and will need a bit of luck.”   

West Melton trainer Hayden Cullen finds himself having four runners in the feature – Hadron Collider (Sweet Lou), Justcallmemiki (Always B Miki), We Walk By Faith (Bettor’s Delight) and Harrison John (Always B Miki). Hadron Collider and Harrison John are recent additions from the Robert and Jenna Dunn stable. 

Hadron Collider and Harrison John both raced in last week’s Lazarus Stake with Harrison John winning and Hadron Collider running fourth. 

“They only got here at 1.30pm on Monday and we trained them at 1.45pm that afternoon. We’ve given them a couple of fast runs and they’ve done everything right. I’m still learning about them so we’ll just have to wait and see I guess,” Cullen said. 

Justcallmemiki had a tough trip in the Lazarus Stakes, dropping out to finish ninth.  

“He’s come through the race really good and looks great. It’s the fittest I’ve had him. We’re obviously going to drop back (from the draw) and hopefully get a cart into it at some stage. I wouldn’t be surprised if he went a cheeky race but it’s a very good field.” 

In the Lazarus, We Walk By Faith lead, was attacked by Harrison John and eventually finished third. It was the gelding’s first run since May so he’s expected to benefit from the outing. 

“He was well short going into that race. You can only do so much at the trials. He’s really improved with the run and we took him into Addington on Monday and gave him a good hit out. He’s trained really good and we’ve had a good week with him. I’m expecting a good race from him. It’s a full field and we’ve drawn seven so you just have to hope they go hard and we’ll be finishing over the top.” 

 by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink