Hadley returns to the sulky with De Goey

Hall of Famer Rohan Hadley has had to dust off his harness racing driving gear for Saturday night’s Beautide in Hobart.

Hadley has only driven sparingly in recent times but will return to the sulky to partner De Goey (Captaintreacherous), who he also trains in the $80,000 feature.

“Rohan Hillier normally drives him, and I would have liked him in the driver seat, but he is up drinking wine no doubt in Darwin, so I have had to come off the bench,” said Hadley.

De Goey is owned and bred by Hadley’s wife Vicki and has won seven of his 15 starts and finished third in last year’s Beautide.

He missed the Globe Derby Final due to a virus last November after winning a heat and has been lightly raced this season, having two starts in February before contesting last month’s heat and final of the Raider Stakes, where he finished second in the final.

“Although he broke stride last start, I don’t think it was all his fault. If you read the steward’s report, there was tightening from both the inside and outside. It was a bit disappointing that we had to go back and then come from last, and he ran second, and it was a good effort.

Despite the gap between his two-run campaigns this year, the pacer hasn’t spent much time out of work.

“I like to take my time with them. There was no point rushing back. The longest stretch of time he had off (between the Tassie Cup heat and Raider Stakes heat) was about four days. I have always trained him to keep a lid on him. He can be a bit of a wild character, and he has really come to hand the last six months.

“I gave him the whole summer off on my other farm on the red soil at Scottsdale, and that was the first time he had an extended break,” Hadley explained.

De Goey has drawn outside of the front-row for Saturday’s assignment, with Hadley indicating he will sum up proceedings at the start.

“We will just see how it goes. Given he hasn’t got a whole lot of gate speed, it won’t be too stressful. It just depends on how it opens up in the first couple of hundred (metres). If I go forward, how long will it take me to get outside the leader, whoever that may be,” said Hadley.

Hadley paid great respect to race favourite Fighter Command.

“I have got to pay respect to Fighter Command. I trained his mother (Spitfire Rose), and I was the only trainer to have won with her. She was a very good racemare. However, I’m confident this horse (De Goey) will hold his own anywhere,” he said.

The winner of the Beautide secures Tasracing’s slot in the TAB Eureka, and if De Goey doesn’t win but performs well, he could still make the trip north.

“In the back of my mind, I’m keen to discuss with Barrie Rattray, who has helped me a lot with the horse along with Rohan Hillier; I may look at sending him to Sydney. If he goes really well, that is an option for him. If we don’t go, I’ll just race him here in free for all’s until such time I’m confident the horse is ready to go if he disappoints on Saturday night.

The Beautide will be running at 20:59 and is race seven on a 10-event program that commences at 17:47. It can be seen on TasracingTV and across the Sky Racing Network, including the Sky Racing Active App.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Duncan Dornauf, for Tasracing