Spirit’s high as Hunter Cup draw sets up heavyweight battle

It’s advantage Spirit Of St Louis (Sweet Lou) but with the huge spectre of Copy That (American Ideal) looming large after the final harness racing puzzle pieces were placed in what looms as a magnificent Del-Re National A. G. Hunter Cup.

Belinda McCarthy’s fast-starting country cups champ drew pole position in today’s barrier draw on Sky Racing 1 and young gun Jack Callaghan will likely be able to pick his poison – to lead and set the pace or choose which horse will take him to the sprint lane.

He opened a $5 second favourite with TAB and shortened into $4.50, shaded only by PETstock Ballarat Pacing Cup winner Copy That ($2.25), whose front row draw (gate 6) will enable the Blair Orange to bully forward and dictate.

And there is speed all around them, with Torrid Saint (gate two), Inter Dominion champion I Cast No Shadow (three), brilliant Honolua Bay (four), in-form Triple Eight (five) and talented Mach Dan (seven) completing the front row.

“Excited to be a part of it,” said Jack Trainor, who’ll steer I Cast No Shadow for Jason Grimson. “I certainly think it’s going to be an exciting race and it’s one of the better fields we’ve had over the last couple of years.”

He was happy with how the marbles fell, telling Brittany Graham “it’s hard to be disappointed with barrier three”.

“Nice and close to the action and with some of the main dangers drawn wide, probably couldn’t be happier to be honest,” Trainor said.

Of the others, Hurricane Harley (gate eight) looks poised for a perfect peg-line run behind Spirit Of St Louis, while wildcards Expensive Ego, Rock N Roll Doo, Major Meister and Old Town Road cap an extraordinary back row.

It’s a deep field and Trainor’s aware he’ll need an improved performance on I Cast No Shadow’s seventh in the Ballarat Cup to feature.

“It was a little bit of a head scratcher,” he said. “First off I probably was a little bit disappointed, he was one-one the whole way, he loomed up really well around the corner as if he was going to at least run second. Probably just died on his run a little bit earlier than I would have liked.

“When we went back and watched the race, me and Jason (Grimson), the first four horses home all got up along the fence. Whether that had something to play with it I don’t know, but obviously as people well know Jason Grimson’s had long enough now to get him right, so I have full confidence that he can turn it around.”

And he’ll need to, with threats across the board, including his fellow New South Wales entrant drawn in gate one, Spirit Of St Louis.

“He’s blessed that Jack Callaghan. It’s a great draw for Spirit Of St Louis and I’ve got no doubt he does have the gate speed and now holds the key to the race,” Trainor said.

“Whether or not he holds the whole way, I’d imagine if something like a Copy That found his way to the chair and put enough pressure on it I’m sure he’d be happy to take a sit, but he definitely by all means has enough gate speed to make that decision and he definitely holds the key.”

by Michael Howard, for Harness Racing Victoria