Mcleod is skipping Ballarat to keep Hunter Cup dream in Tact

Master driver and caretaker of Kiwi pacer, Antony Butt has decided to skip Ballarat instead opting for the Hertz Melton Casey Classic the week after as the ideal harness racing preparation heading into the Sportsbet A.G Hunter Cup for Tact Mcleod (Sweet Lou).

The Mark Jones-trained gelding has had a fair preparation heading into the $250,000 classic with a narrow loss at Bendigo and an uncharacteristic gallop in Shepparton.

“He went really good at Bendigo and just got beaten on the line. At Shepparton he didn’t have much luck – through his own fault he galloped out of the gate,” Butt said.

“I am not sure what happened, he just put in a rough step and galloped, which is not like him.

“He was okay in that (Shepparton Cup) without being sensational.”

The six-year-old out of Tact Hayley Jane will skip the Group 2 Ballarat Cup and head to Melton the following week for the Casey Classic.

“We thought we were better to concentrate on freshening him up and getting him back in the draw and going again next week and then the (Feb 1) Hunter Cup,” he said.

“He will have to race well next week to get in it, but he has proved he is right up there with the best of them.”

The former Kiwi turned Victorian horseman secured his first Hunter Cup with back-to-back wins in 1994 and’95 with Blossom Lady and most recently with Mah Sish in 2013.

“He can do it (win a Hunter Cup), it is not going to be easy with Leap To Fame head and shoulders above the rest,” he said.

“You are racing the best of the best and the elite, but it is never easy to win, and it will come down to barrier draws and a bit of luck in the run.”

The February 1, $250,000 Group 1 Sportsbet A.G Hunter Cup will headline a massive night of races including the $250,000 Group 1 Yabby Dam Farms Great Southern Star for the trotters.

by Lachlan Mitchell, for Harness Racing Victoria