David Morris on a roll

David Morris is regarded as one of the most talented harness racing reinsmen in the Sydney metropolitan area.

The 31-year-old freelance driver does not contest as many races as in previous years but remains popular with owners and trainers who are happy to have him partner their horses.

Morris has driven 696 winners in his career to date and has five drives tonight at Penrith, a track where he regularly competes.

His first drive comes up in Race 2 when he partners the Ross Adams-trained mare Stellina (Roll With Joe), who shapes as his best winning chance.

Drawn perfectly in gate one for the 2125m trip, the five-year-old should have the pace to hold up from the inside draw where she can dictate terms, which is clearly an advantage around the Penrith circuit.

“Ross and I have struck up a good partnership over the past few months,” said Morris.

“He is an astute trainer who has his horses spot-on when they go to the races and I always look forward to driving for him and his owners.

“Stellina is racing well at the moment and was a strong winner over the shorter trip two starts back at Penrith.

“Drawing well on the inside of the front line tonight does give her a definite advantage so I’m sure she can go close to winning again.”

Another runner of interest that Morris will partner tonight is the two-year-old Double Fear (Fear The Dragon) in the HRNSW Guaranteed 2yo Pace (Race 8).

The gelding is trained by David’s wife Steph and will have benefitted from having a race start at Tabcorp Park Menangle when unplaced behind the promising Ravishing Sloy.

In a small field of six, Double Fear will start from gate four tonight with Morris hoping to gain a tag behind odds-on favourite Memphis Fury, who has drawn immediately outside of him in gate five.

“He is still pretty green, but we have a good opinion of this fellow and with experience and maturity we believe he will develop into a handy racehorse,” said Morris.

“It is only a small field tonight and the horse drawn to our outside goes well and will be hard to beat.

“I am hoping that with the right run though, our bloke can go awfully close to winning.”

For complete race entries, click here.

by Michael Dumesny, for HRNSW