Change of plans for Herlihy and star trotter

Harness racing fans were greeted with mild surprise with the inclusion of Bolt For Brilliance (Muscle Hill) in the nominations for Cup Day’s (8th Nov.) feature trotting race, the $30,000 G3 Worthy Queen Trot.

Historians will recall horses like Scotch Tar having won the Worthy Queen in the past, and the new addition to Cup Week will see the Open Class trotters do battle over the 2000m journey from the stand.

The reshuffle in the New Zealand feature race calendar has seen the G1 NZ Trotting FFA shifted back a month to December 4th in the hope that more runners would be drawn to a standing start as opposed to lining up behind the mobile three days out from the Dominion.

While the field has attracted just the 10 runners for Tuesday, it is a step up from the seven we saw take part in the Trotting FFA a year earlier. Bolt For Brilliance’s trainer/driver, Tony Herlihy (MNZM) indicates it was a factor in his decision for the Rowe Cup winner lining up en route to the Dominion.

“I know the Dominion is only three days away but being a 2000m stand and only off the 10m hopefully it will provide a good blow out for him without being too tough,” said Herlihy.

“I think going back to a sprint stand has worked out good, in saying that a mobile wouldn’t worry Bolt, but some of the other Dominion contenders it would upset them a little bit, so it does work out well as far as the trainers are concerned,” he mused.

The Worthy Queen is without Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) and Sundees Son (Majestic Son) with connections of both trotters following the same campaign as last year and preferring to head to the Dominion fresh.

The G3 feature has attracted a handy field with multiple G1 winner Majestic Man (Majestic Son) a short course specialist, albeit without a mobile to showcase his blazing gatespeed. Also included is last season’s NZ Trotting FFA winner, Oscar Bonavena (Majestic Son), who resumes back under the care of his former trainer, Mark Purdon having had a stint out of the Regan Todd stable.

Todd lines up Andy Hall (Andover Hall) who is the only trotter in the field still with a nomination for the Show Day feature that is not withing the top 15 of the rankings required to make the field. A top three finish however would reward him with a guaranteed start in the Dominion three days later.

It shapes as an intriguing race with very few if any of the Open Class trots being run over a sprint trip without a mobile these days, and for Herlihy and Bolt For Brilliance it should add the final polish as they prepare for the biggest trot on the calendar.

Bolt For Brilliance was solid if not spectacular with his fifth-place finish in the South Bay Trotters Cup at Kaikoura on Monday. Herlihy elected not to start the five-year-old son of Muscle Hill off a brutish handicap a week earlier, and ultimately the four weeks in between runs saw him struggling to make any impression on the race from back in the field with a race record time being set up front by his arch nemesis.

“The time was strong up front and Sundees Son was back to his best and as we know he’s a great horse when he’s right.

“He did blow out a wee bit Bolt, but he’s come through the run really well and is jumping out of his skin. I wasn’t originally going to back him up on the Tuesday, but just the way he is, he feels like another run under his belt will be a good thing,” he said.

SOUTH BAY TROTTERS CUP REPLAY

Herlihy and Bolt For Brilliance are domiciled at the Templeton property of Jim and Sandi Curtin, a place his star trotter is very familiar with having been entrusted in the care of Curtin and his wife 12 months earlier.

Covid19 restrictions meant that Herlihy was unable to leave his Clevedon base and was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch the Dominion campaign of Bolt For Brilliance from afar. Even for a guy who has just about achieved everything there is in the sport, you get the feeling he is relishing the opportunity to be amongst the hustle and bustle of Cup & Show week once more.

“It’s great, as you know it’s a great week and coming down to Kaikoura on the way through, the people are so hospitable and so pleased to see you. It’s just a great couple of weeks for both codes and I’m really looking forward to being a part of it again,” he said.

The Dominion is a race that has eluded Herlihy for over 30 years as a driver, with his last success in the G1 trotting feature coming in 1992 behind Directorship (Lordship).

“I think we beat Jack Smolenski that night with a good little mare he had. I had just come down on the day and had driven him a couple of times for Gary Smith who trained for Kamwood Lodge. He went really good too because he was out there three wide and parked out there a bit of it, and on his day, he was a really good horse Directorship,” he said.

Directorship was one of a number of horses to achieve the Rowe Cup & Dominion double in the same season, something Herlihy will be hoping to achieve himself with Bolt For Brilliance.

As we have seen over the last two seasons with a stellar crop of Open Class trotters, barrier positions and getting in front of the elite opposition has proved crucial to the winning of just about every feature trot.

With Sundees Son, Muscle Mountain and even some of the other opposition capable of running 55 half’s off the front, very few Group Race victories have been achieved by trotters coming from back in the field.

“We were drawn the second-row last year and he went a terrific race. It probably does a little bit (barrier draws being crucial) but most of them can do a little bit of work in the run and the thing about Bolt is he is pretty adaptable and doesn’t mind where he has to race in the running, it’s just that Sundees Son and Muscle Mountain can be very hard to get past.

“It’s a hard race to win obviously and a lot of good horses and good horseman have added their name to that trophy. Those races are never easy, and it would be great. We have the right horse to do it if we have no bad luck,” he said.

For complete Cup Day fields, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink