Adelle the horse to beat in Group One Trotters Cup

Jack Butler will harness up a runner in a Group 1 event at Albion Park on Saturday night with more confidence than he did for his last and only training Group 1 success to date. 

Butler puts the polish on the highly talented harness racing mare Adelle (Orlando Vici) who is the $2.60 pre-race favorite in the Group 1 Queensland Trotters Cup. 

Two years ago Butler was thrust into the spotlight during the Brisbane Winter Carnival when his mare Jeradas Delight caused a boilover taking out the Group 1 The Golden Girl at the huge odds of $151. 

“It was a bit of a shock and I didn’t back her either,” Butler admitted recalling the milestone win which gave his career a boost seven years after relocating to Brisbane from Bathurst in NSW. 

“The stable got a lot of new clients out of Jeradas Delight’s win The Golden Girl,” he said. 

Butler knows if Adelle executes a clean getaway from the mobile she is the horse to beat. 

“She can be a handful at the start but she’s a beautiful mare and just needs to get her head right at the start,” he said. 

Butler was heartened by Adelle’s performance in finishing third behind Sugarinspice in last week’s Group 3 Trotters Sprint. 

“She went away with them and then was a victim of circumstances when they went so slow and someone clocked her to run her last 800 metres in 55.8,” he said. 

Butler and Adelle’s driver Nathan Dawson have had a discussion around potential driving tactics from Adelle’s second row barrier. 

“She is tough enough to sit parked if they go slow early and then she has the high speed to come from back in the field if they run along,” he said. 

“She is in a happy place and primed for this race- this is her Grand Final and we won’t die wondering.” 

For complete race entries, click here.

by John Dunne, for Harnesslink