Double Delight on track for Oaks campaign

Friday night harness racing heads to Alexandra Park this week and despite the fact that Cup & Show Week is at the forefront of proceedings, the ‘ribbon of light’ is set to host a couple of household names on its nine-race programme.

The New Zealand Trotting Oaks has been upgraded to a $100,000 Group One on the 25th of November making it the first Group One ever held in New Zealand for the fairer sex square gaiters.

The $2.20 favourite for the Oaks is the pacing-bred daughter of Captaintreacherous in Double Delight and the Tony Herlihy (MZNM) trained three-year-old is second up in the seventh on the card this Friday night.

She was a very good second fresh up a fortnight earlier having not been sighted on race day since an incredible effort for second behind Highgrove (Love You) in the $100k G1 Northern Trotting Derby back in May.

In her first look from a stand, Double Delight was impeccable with her manners and despite being parked out from the 800m in her race day resumption was stout in chasing her former stablemate, I See Fire (Muscle Hill) to the finish.

Her race time from the 10m handicap was trimmed up to be a fraction faster than the 2:50.1 of the winner despite being three and a half lengths away in second, and with a run under her belt will strip a much fitter horse for tomorrow night’s assignment.

“She was very good last week I thought,” said her trainer & driver, Tony Herlihy.

“It was a long time since she last raced, and she trotted great and did everything right, so I was really pleased with that.

“She’s definitely benefitted from the spell and is a bit stronger again. She is a nice mare who hopefully has it all ahead of her. As long as she goes another good race and pulls up good, that’s all we can hope for and I’m sure everything being equal she will be a great chance on Friday night,” he said.

DOUBLE DELIGHT RESUMPTION

Double Delight is one of three runners drawn the front line for Friday night’s assignment and won’t have things handed to her with some quality trotters comprising the eight-horse field.

The Wallis/Hackett team have six of the eight including last start winner I See Fire, who has copped 15m from the handicapper, while the Arna Donnelly trained Aflyin Spur (Pegasus Spur) will start from 25m and is looking to find the form that once saw him a serious Dominion candidate before his manners on race night deserted him.

Safely away off the front-line Double Delight will be awfully hard to beat however with loftier goals ahead, it’s clear Herlihy and his team are thinking bigger picture.

We won’t be looking for a gut buster or anything like that, more just wanting to see her do everything well. Safely through tomorrow night we will then look at coming down to Christchurch soon after for the Oaks and possibly the Trotting Derby all going well,” he said.

New Zealand’s greatest ever driving product (3629 wins) hasn’t driven in the NZ Trotting Oaks since 2007 and despite having a CV that boasts almost every major race in the country, the Trotting Oaks and Derby are two that have alluded him in a career that stretches back to 1978.

With Highgrove not trotting as potently as he was earlier in the season, Double Delight looks a great chance to become just the fourth filly to win the Oaks/Derby double and would join Luby Lou (Muscle Hill), Habibti (Love You) and Escapee (Sundon) if she were to do so.

Despite being pacing bred, the $40,000 yearling sales purchase doesn’t require any special attention or work and Herlihy can’t point to there being any real difference between this filly and some of his better trotting bred three-year-old’s of the past.

“There’s nothing different with her, she just gets work the same is just one of the crew, and fits in really well,” he said.

The first of the nine-race programme at Alexandra Park kicks off at 6:05pm and dovetails nicely with the conclusion of Friday’s Rangiora meeting concluding at 6:13pm.

For complete Alexandra Park fields, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink