Cameron Hart’s four winners at Menangle headquarters

It’s not often that ace driver Cameron Hart drives home a long priced winner but last night at Menangle he did just that when aspiring trotter Hanover Da Moon (One Over Da Moon) ran his harness racing rivals ragged in taking out the Discretionary Trotters at Menangle Park last night.

It was a clever tactical drive by Hart as from the pole position Hanover Da Moon had a 40 metre advantage over odds on favourite The Locomotive who was returning back after narrowly missing out in the Great Southern star at Melton a fortnight ago.

Commencing well from the pole position, Hanover Da Moon settled behind Super Stride but it wasn’t long after that Hart allowed Hanover Da Moon to stride to the lead. But his tactic was to keep a space between his horse and The Locomotive.

REPLAY 15 FEB HANOVER DA MOON

Driver Brad Hewitt on The Locomotive wasn’t in any hurry to catch the leaders and was settled back in the run only passing a few ahead of him. But Hart continued to allow Hanover Da Moon to freewheel along in the lead and he opened up a space between himself and his rivals. He ran his second and third quarters in 28.7 and 28.1 seconds and this made it impossible for The Locomotive to make up any notable ground.

In the end Hanover Da Moon had 18 metres to spare over Super Service with The Locomotive doing his best work a further 23 metres away in third placing.

There’s no doubt that Hanover Da Moon who is trained by Leon Jurd is very smart as the seven year old gelding ran 1.54.3 winning his previous start at Menangle Park.

The Locomotive was never going to win with such fast sectional times and he will be a different proposition when he returns to the mobile. His main immediate goal is the Group 1 Hammerhead Trotters mile at Menangle on 8 March and he is still likely to start favourite for the coveted classic.

The win capped a great night for Hart as previously he had scored for Victorian trainer Emma Stewart on Bay of Biscay and Uniquely Ideal as well as The Janitor for Chantal Turpin.

The driving success would have gone some way to alleviating the disappointment just 24 hours previously when he drove Swayzee to a narrow loss in the Albury Cup. The ability to bounce back as he did is reflective of his driving skills and capabilities that make him one of the best drivers in the country.

For complete race results, click here.

by Tony Milanese, for Harnesslink