Herbie making hay while the sun shines

Ballarat harness racing whiz kid James "Herbie" Herbertson has the throttle wide open as he charges toward a century.

The youngster has been in good form on a consistent basis this season, already the best in his short career. He has 95 winners on the board, and barring an industry shutdown through COVID-19, is certain to get to the ton.

"I ended up with 102 last season and I'd be pretty excited if I could go back-to-back centuries. We all work pretty hard at it, so getting to that milestone is nice," Herbertson said.

"It's great that we're still racing, but the new zone racing region in Victoria will definitely cut back the number of drives I have each week," he said.

"I've ended up in the Stawell-Terang region, I haven't really checked how many meetings are coming up in the near future. But as long as we keep going, I should get to the 100 mark."

Herbertson has been in fine touch over the past five days with a quick-fire seven winners. His hot streak started at Melton on Saturday night with a narrow victory for Amanda Turnbull on EllmersHoofing It (Falcon Seelster-Ellmer Rae).

Then followed a day out at Cranbourne on Monday with a bag of four. The Cranbourne winners were Bar Naar Naar (Changeover-Elakasa Ocean Star); Motu Tigers Eye (Bettors Delight-Silksngems); Foolish Pleasure (Rocknroll Dance-Vouvray) and Ima Shadow Boxer (Shadow Play-Soho Diaz).

It was the second time Herbertson's got a quartet (the other being mid-2019 at Bendigo), but the Cranbourne win had extra significance, because the final three winners were trained by his father Ash.

"It was the first time I've driven a treble for dad so that was special," he said.

"There's a kind of a funny story, though, involving Ima Shadow Boxer. We didn't think he'd get a start, so we breezed him up a bit at 7am Monday because we had to leave early for the races. He went terrific; then we got a call to say he'd got in.

"So off to the races he went. He wasn't quite up on his toes like he normally is, but went super and got the job done at Cranbourne in 1.55-6. We do dash them up the day prior to racing, so I suppose it wasn't much different!"

At Bendigo the following night, Herbertson combined with trainer Russell Jack for a double. Three-year-old filly Technys Angel (Alta Christiano-Venus Williams (Washington VC) looked good in winning, while stablemate Stealth (Majestic Son-Zesta (SJ's Photo) is a four-year-old trotter with a bright future. Two others in Jason Lee and Chris Svanosio also landed doubles at the meeting.

The big guns in Victorian driving ranks-Chris Alford and Greg Sugars-have once again given their rivals the slip. Alford has 182 wins with Sugars desperately trying to stay in touch with 159.

Kima Frenning, who is sidelined after a recent horrific fall, is next with 98. Others on the leaders' board are Kate Gath 86; Michael Bellman 68; Jason Lee 63; Michelle Phillips 47; Jackie Barker 44; Jack Laugher 43; Kerryn Manning 38; Chris Svanosio 35; Glen Craven and Jayden Brewin 33; John Caldow and Darby McGuigan 32; Michael Stanley 29; Ryan Duffy 28; Mattie Craven 27 and David Moran 25.

*Talented Heathcote based junior driver Shannon O'Sullivan has received medical clearances to resume race driving. O'Sullivan, with 25 wins this season, had plastic surgery performed in a Melbourne hospital after a bad fall at Ouyen last Sunday week.

"It's all good. I had some stitches removed on Monday and then got the green light the next day-I was determined to get back as quick as I could," she said.

The youngster has been booked to drive four horses at Friday nights Bendigo fixture.

Terry Gange

NewsAlert PR Mildura