Aussie trip on the cards for exciting trotter

By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk

A trip across the Tasman could be on the cards for exciting trotter Bolt For Brilliance after his dominant win in the Group Three  Les Harrison Transport Cambridge Flying Stakes (2200m) at Cambridge Raceway on Thursday.

The son of Muscle Hill pressed forward early from his wide barrier and assumed control of the race with a mile to go.

He was left unchallenged in front and ran away to a comfortable 4-1/2 length victory over Massive Metro, setting a new track record of 2:42.6 in the process.

Bolt For Brilliance paid just $1.10 on the tote and trainer-driver Tony Herlihy was satisfied with the win.

“He probably went quicker than I thought he was going. He did it very well,” Herlihy said.

“He is a great horse and has done a great job for us and hopefully there is more instore.”

An initial target could lie across the Tasman, with Herlihy meeting with his owners on Friday to decide whether the five-year-old heads to Melbourne to contest the Gr.1 Great Southern Star (1720m) at Melton on February 4.

“We will reassess tomorrow with the owners,” Herlihy said.

“Some of the flights are a bit awkward at the moment so we will see what we can do. He certainly is not 100 percent assured to go.”

If he does head to Australia, Herlihy said he will likely join his nephew Nathan Purdon’s barn for his campaign.

Herlihy enjoyed two further wins at Cambridge on Thursday with Pauly D taking out the Dunstan Horsefeeds Mobile Pace (2200m), while Last Tango In The Heaven secured a stable treble when winning the Betavet Morrinsville Cup/Cambridge Gold Cup Heat 1 Handicap Pace (2700m).

“It was a good, strong run from Pauly D,” Herlihy said. “He did a fair bit of work in the running and stuck to his guns well, so I was pretty proud of him.

“Last Tango In The Heaven has always been a horse that I have quite liked. He is a good staying sort of horse and I think he will keep developing too. He is quite a nice horse.”

View the Cambridge results click here!