Canterbury teams head South on Sunday

With the hope of winning a race or two, Canterbury harness racing trainers Jamie Gameson and Bruce Negus head south to Oamaru on Sunday (Oct. 16).

Gameson regards three year old trotting filly Blithe (Love You) as his best prospect in Race Six and he says Sunday’s race is a massive drop in grade for her.

“She’s been racing the nicer fillies and she’s sat parked in her last couple of starts. She just needs a helmet to follow. If she can begin with them she’s got a real good show this weekend,” he said.

Gameson’s other runner in Race Six is Heavenly Strings (Father Patrick).

“She’s fresh up and goes good fresh. If she can step and get handy, she could be in the first four.”

Prospect Park (Mach Three) in for Race Five, should be fitter after last week’s run.

“He was just there to have a run round last week and although he ran down the track, we were pretty happy with him. We’ll probably punch him out if we can and see how he feels.” 

In Race Three Gameson lines up three year old filly Mamma Mia (Sweet Lou) to be driven by Gerard O’Reilly.

“She hasn’t had too much luck. She’s a bit better than a maiden but she’s got a few things going on in her mind at the moment. The draw doesn’t really suit her.”

Bruce Negus regards Phone Tap (He’s Watching) in Race Five as his best bet for Sunday. The four year old mare has the services of junior driver Sam Thornley and draws nicely at Gate Two.

“It’s a preferential draw for her as she’ll be driven by Sam. She’s got down in points (ratings) as she hasn’t performed for a long time. She’s going better now, and I’d like to think that with a good run  she’d be a good chance,” he said. 

Negus also has nine year old Dreaminsover (Changeover) is the same race. He’ll be driven by Ben Hope.

“He was injured a year ago so he still may need a run, but I regard him as an outside first four player.”

In the last race Negus lines up Play By Ear (Betterthancheddar). 

“He was also turned out after getting injured just like Dreaminsover and he’s also on the way back. Both Play By Ear and Dreaminsover worked well this morning (Wednesday). I gave them a hard run so they wouldn’t turn up at ninety five percent.” 

For complete race entries, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink