Apex on the rise for devotee trots trainer

Central Victorian harness racing trainer John Hurrell is a big fan of the square-gaiter and he is enjoying a successful campaign at the moment with consistent trotter Apex (Betting Line).

“He’s really putting it together and his latest win at Maryborough surprised the hell out of me—I didn’t think he was strong enough mentally to sit in the death-seat and do it,” Hurrell said.

Watch the race replay here: 

Apex, who is one of only two Betting Line-sired winning trotters in Australia (the other being Not As Promised, who won the Victoria Derby and the Breeders Crown) is now in line for a hat-trick of wins.

Since returning from a long spell, the six-year-old has notched three wins, three seconds, and a third from eight starts.

His recent victories came at Ararat and Maryborough, and tonight (May 27) he travels 300 kilometres to South Australia for a start at Mt Gambier, where he looks a strong chance despite a 20-metre handicap.

“He hasn’t raced there before, and I don’t often go because it’s such a big trip. But when I saw that the club was struggling to hold a meeting and there were only four nominations in the trot, I thought I’d help out,” Hurrell said.

“My driver Jackie (Barker) was all for it, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have gone.”

Check the Mount Gambier program here:

Hurrell said he decided to tip Apex out after a below-par run at Ararat last October.

“Apart from pacing for a bit, he really stuffed up and I didn’t have an option other than to send him for a spell,” he said.

“As a young horse he was tried as a pacer but couldn’t qualify. I think he may have been with a couple of stables, but since I’ve had him, he’s rarely made a mistake and doesn’t wear anything special.

“This prep he’s been going nicely from day one. I’ve altered his shoeing up the back and keep him sharp in his trackwork.

“It’s been a bit of a bugger only being able to jog him around by himself, but I’ve now got another horse that will work with him, so that will help.”

Hurrell said he also suspected Apex had become something of a “non-winner”.

“He would switch on and off in his races but after he drew the pole one night he seemed to try harder in front, so we’ve adopted those tactics when we can,” he said.

“The horse didn’t cost a lot of money and I think he’s won six races with 18 placings for over $39,000.”

Hurrell said his best trotter was ironically another pacing-bred in Lombo Scrutinizer (Bettors Delight) (100 starts, 13w, 34 pl) and said he believed at the time he must have been “looking for a challenge”.

“He was a big headache and wanted only to pace—but the problem was he could trot way faster than he could pace!” Hurrell said.

“He’d get so keyed up he’d bolt away from the mobile barrier and then in standing starts he’d go about 50 metres before he’d gallop.

“In the end I asked for him to stay out of the barrier draw and we’d work around to race in the death-seat. That worked great because he started to settle.”

Hurrell, who grew up in Adelaide, followed his father into the sport.

“Dad was right into it. I trained them for a while, but when I was struggling health-wise with a crook back, I gave them away,” he said.

He returned to harness racing 15 years ago when he made the move to a 20-acre property near Avoca, in Central Victoria.

“I’ve only ever had one or two pacers. I just love the trotters, I think they get you excited – although sometimes I do question myself as to why I have them!”

From Terry Gange for Harnesslink

Trainer John Hurrell and driver Jackie Barker with Apex after their Maryborough win (Victorian Square Trotters Association photograph)