Horror night for punters in Gold Crown heats

PUNTERS need to reset following the Gold Crown heats at Bathurst with five odds on favorites having their harness racing colors lowered in the six heats.

The Bernie Hewitt trained and driven juvenile Sweet On Lexy ($4.00) started the rot for favorite backers when he outclassed the Clayton Tonkin trained debutant Wazza ($1.60 fav) in the opening heat.

Despite sitting parked Sweet On Lexy (Sweet Lou) surged clear in the home straight scoring by 23 metres in a slick mile rate of 1:53.9.

The Clayton Tonkin trained Fox Dan (Art Major), who was making his racetrack debut, provided punters with a brief reprieve when he scored an ultra impressive win in the second heat after racing wide for the first 600 metres of the race.

The Michael Stanley prepared Soho Fury chalked up the first win of his career when he downed Springfield Amore ($1.30 fav) in the third heat.

The son of Lazarus sped to the early lead before handing up the front running to the popular elect and made full use of the sprint lane to score running away on the line.

Cameron Hart completed a driving double when he partnered My Ultimate Barney ($4) (Downbytheseaside) to victory in the fourth heat.

My Ultimate Barney wrested the lead off the Sanchez ($1.40 fav) with 1200 metres to travel and then proceeded to hold out the favorite in the home straight prevailing with a three metre margin in a mile rate of 1:54.2.

My Ultimate Freddie ($1.90 fav) and Hart however couldn’t get the job done in the fifth heat which was taken out by the Ellen Jones trained Business In Heaven ($9.50).

Business In Heaven (Rock N Roll Heaven) gave Ultimate Cruza a sizeable start on the home turn but managed to reel that horse in over the concluding stages to grab the verdict by a neck.

My Ultimate Freddie, who galloped in the home straight, was subsequently stood down for one trial by stewards after the race.

Punters headed straight for the bar after the $1.20 favorite Hezatreacherous was bloused by Jacks Ultimate Fury (Bettors Delight) in the shadows of the post in the final heat of the night.

Hezatreacherous enjoyed a pressure free run in the lead but was unable to stave off Jacks Ultimate Fury ($6.00) who peeled off the back of the leader halfway down the home stretch to score by two metres.

For complete race results, click here.

by John Dunne, for Harnesslink