Outlaw Man gives his rivals the slip yet again

Master trainer Andy Gath has built a reputation on identifying and succeeding with tried New Zealand harness racing horses, and a recent buy from across the Tasman might be one of his best yet.

Five-year-old gelding Outlaw Man (Sweet Lou) continued a sparkling start to life in Australia when he strung together a seventh-straight victory for new connections at Tabcorp Park Melton on Saturday night.

And this triumph was arguably the most impressive of his career.

The son of Sweet Lou speared straight to the lead from barrier two and never looked like being caught, with dual 27.2sec closing quarters capping a dominant 7.8m victory in a mile rate of 1:52.5 (1720m).

“AND HE TROUNCED THEM!”
Andy Gath’s super Kiwi buy Outlaw Man makes it seven wins in-a-row, prevailing for young reinsman Jordan Leedham in the Prydes EasiFeed Pace! How far can he go? pic.twitter.com/Rwm6L2bT0s

— The Trots (@TheTrotsComAu) February 18, 2023

It was a second successive win with Outlaw Man for young reinsman Jordan Leedham, who drove a similar front-running race seven days prior.

“Hopefully after tonight a few more people think he’s a lot better than what they probably think he is because he’s just been going through the grades,” Leedham said after the Prydes EasiFeed Pace.

“Tonight showed what he can really do, and the whole way he was up wanting to roll so I was happy to just go with him and let him do his thing.

“He just showed what he can really do.”

Leedham works for Gath Racing and knows all about the success the stable has enjoyed with pacers and trotters from overseas.

“All the horses that Andy has purchased and brought over from New Zealand have all done terrific jobs and have all gone on to win a metro or two, but I reckon he’d be up there with one of the better ones that we’ve had come through lately,” Leedham said.

“And he’s one of my favourites too, so I’m happy with that.”

Outlaw Man won his first start for Gath and new owners in December last year, and after being beaten into third a day later at Ballarat, has prevailed in his subsequent seven runs. The blitz here in Australia has raked in more than $60,000 for connections and taken his career record to 12 wins from 36 career starts.

“He’s bred to have a lot of high speed, and he can sustain it for that 600-800 metres and just look like he’s doing it effortlessly,” Leedham said.

“He was super tonight.”

Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars combined for Saturday night’s only winning double at Victorian headquarters, with top trotter One Over All and stable veteran Triple Eight both successful.

One Over All showed her class in a rare standing start event over the long trip at Tabcorp Park, while Triple Eight confirmed a trip to Sydney for next weekend’s Miracle Mile qualifiers after scoring his first victory since July last year.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Tim O’Connor, for Harness Racing Victoria