Herbie looks sporty at Rangiora

Taking in trials can be a sound way of getting your next winner or value runner.

In Harnesslink Trial Time we look through those that have impressed at recent trials and should be on your radar when they appear in race day fields.

The Rangiora trials on Wednesday the 27th of October provided plenty of  horses to be followed in the weeks ahead. Here are a few of those that caught the the eye.

Here’s Herbie. (Sportswriter – Just Rose) If you think Heza Sport is a nice type then Here’s Herbie looks like a Heza Sport version 2.0, why? Because he’s his brother.   The C DeFilippi trained runner looked to have inherited the family speed too and won the 2nd heat of the day well in a time of 3.23.7 over the 2600m stand. As is the case with most trained under the DeFilippi name the horse sprung out well from behind the tapes and led the field around. The last 200m was all fine work. This is a horse that you’ll need to respect when he reaches the races proper.

Franco Stefan (Bettor’s Delight – Suzy’s Delight) On breeding this horse should really kick on a little this time in and his work in behind Heza Sport on Wednesday in the 7^th heat of the day was sound and followed on from a decent showing in behind Samhara the week before. The Ken Barron trained horse won impressively on debut which almost seemed to stunt his development with the competitive one win grade meaning results were hard to come by thereafter. A little time away from the track may well have have aided this horse. A high watch on the relation to both Cullenburn and Locharburn.

Bensons Mate (A Rocknroll Dance – Telemecanique) With two wins from just the four race day starts the Cam Jones trained Bensons Mate looks like he can press on with things. His win in the 12^th heat of the day coming over the 2600m distance in a decent overall time of 3.17.7 with the last 800m paced in 56.8.  Overall a front-line mobile option may be favoured here given his wins over Sugar Me and Sporty Celine have both come under short course mobile conditions. Bensons Mate looks forward and ready to fire.

Ben McMillan