Herlihy with three well-favoured runners at Alex Park tonight

The harness racing season may be getting close to a winter wind down but our greatest ever driver is just getting warmed up.

After a frantic last two months many of the code’s biggest names are enjoying their winter break and racing in the north is returning to something resembling normal.

And Tony Herlihy is ready to take advantage.

Our most successful ever driver, for those keeping count he is up to 3707 domestic wins, Herlihy is also one of the north’s great all time trainers, with 1132 training wins, rarified air in the north especially as Herlihy rarely travels his horses these days.

He fancies he can add to that total over the colder months ahead.

“I have got a few who are racing well and aren’t that deep into their campaigns so I am hoping to sneak a couple over the next month,” he smiles.

There may not be too much sneaky about the likes of Youneverknow (R2, No.1), Roy Kent (R3, No.3) or Double Parked (R9, No.3) at The Park tonight as all three are in the market, two of them warm favourites.

Youneverknow really caught the eye with a huge second to Meant To Be $120,000 IRT Sires’ Stakes Championship last start and only has to race up to that form to win tonight.

“He is a lovely big horse and getting better and I think he will hold his own from barrier 1 so he has to be a good chance,” says The Iceman.

Roy Kent has been a victim of circumstances lately, chasing home the likes of Marketplace in elite three-year-old races while when he dropped back into the grades last start and was outsprinted by Words in a no-pressure race on the subsequently abandoned race night where the passing lane he could have used was a puddle.

“Roy always goes a good race and I think he will be even better next campaign but he has gate speed and is up to these horses.”

That same quote suits Double Parked who won a heat of the Metro Series two weeks ago and races in another one tonight in probably an easier field.

“He has that gate speed that helps and will be really hard to catch if he can get up against the marker pegs. He definitely has more wins in him.”

Herlihy suggests his other runners tonight in Sadhaka (R7, No.1) and Always Ask (R10, No.2) will both be better for their outings tonight.

The meeting has some small fields but some smart horses, headlined by Mantra Blue in Race 1 who looks enormously better off in a mobile in Race 1 tonight than when she resumed off a 30m handicap last Friday.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Michael Guerin, for Harness Racing New Zealand