Jones team Hot To Trot at Addington Raceway

Canterbury harness racing heads to Addington tomorrow night (Oct. 6) and while some of the stars on the track will be racing at Methven later in the week, the meeting has attracted some firepower of its own.

Heats of the Sires Stakes two-year-old series for the boys and the girls are to be contested, and so too another heat of the Nevele R Fillies series.

The meeting also includes the return of the country’s leading three-year-old trotter, Highgrove (Love You), with the Robert & Jenna Dunn trained runner resuming in a field of eight three-year-old male trotters in race six.

Each of the eight square gaiters look to have aspirations of progressing toward the Group One $100,000 New Zealand Trotting Derby at Addington Raceway on December 4th for which Highgrove finds himself a $2.30 favourite in futures betting.

The horse fancied as the best chance of beating him in the markets is the Mark Jones trained son of Creatine, Hot To Trot, who has been impressive in his new campaign since a Northern Trotting Derby placing announced his arrival as a trotter of the future.

Hot To Trot is unbeaten in two races this time in from his winter spell and looks to have furnished into the complete package on his road to lofty targets in the spring.

“He ran well in the Northern Derby and has been in the right races the last couple of starts. You can’t do any more than win as he has done, and we’ve been wrapped with him,” said his trainer, Mark Jones.

“Having the age group features spread throughout the year has probably helped every horse. You would like to think he will be better in time, he’s still quite a big lean horse so the Derby being later in the year will definitely help him in that respect. He’s kind of got everything, a good attitude, good manners, has speed and can stay. It’s a good package to have and on top of that he wants to be a racehorse,” he said.

Hot To Trot is the seventh and final foal out of the ill-fated Sundon mare, Lady Boo Kay.

Six of her seven foals have won races and should Hot To Trot extend his winning streak on Thursday, it would mark the 40th win for her progeny that include the likes of 16-win trotter, Castlereagh (Majestic Son), and G3 WA Trotting Cup winner, Beau Brummel (Earl).

“The family all get up and go early, like they’ve all won at two and have gone on to do a good job. He is probably the first one we have given time and haven’t pushed early and raced as an early two-year-old. He’s a bigger type of horse and it looks like we are being rewarded for that patience. But he is also the last foal out of the mare before she died and as is often the case, the last one tends to be the best one doesn’t it,” he laughed.

“It’s just good for the owners to have one to go and be in the bigger the races. I’m not saying he can win them, but he can definitely be competitive, and it keeps the guys like them who breed their own horses enthusiastic about breeding and racing which can only be a good thing for the industry,” he said.

With the talent on display by Hot To Trot readily known, the group of owners have elected to breed his Orlando Vici half-sister to Creatine last breeding season and are expecting her first foal sometime around Cup Week. Jones has also had some success with the sire and wouldn’t mind a few more in his barn at some stage.

“I’ve had three Creatine’s in the barn, and they’ve all been winners. He seems to be leaving good racehorses with good natures and great attitudes, I can’t fault them,” he said.

HOT TO TROT REPLAY

Hot To Trot is joined on Thursday night’s Addington card by four of his stable mates, all of whom will be handled by Samantha Ottley who sits eighth in the driver’s premiership and is currently one win behind Sarah O’Reilly (48 wins) for leading female honours.

She gets her first chance to bridge the gap in the second on the card with the well-bred American Ideal three-year-old gelding, Tact Teel. Bred and raced by the Dynes of Southland, he is out of their Group One winning Christian Cullen mare, Tact Lizzie.

Tact Teel has had a sound introduction to racing having where he has placed twice from three starts and is coming off the back of a solid second at Timaru last Sunday.

“We’ve only had him a couple of months. We bought the Bettor’s Delight filly out of the mother at the yearling sales this year which was the start of a good relationship with the Dynes.

“He was causing them a few headaches down south, so they sent him up to us and he’s done a nice job so far. He’s got a lot to learn and probably lacks some high speed but he’s a good honest bugger so he will do a job as he gets a bit stronger and would have to be a chance in a maiden race,” said Jones.

Race three sees the Woodlands Stud bred and raced Monaco Grace (Bettor’s Delight) looking to recapture her best form in the fifth heat of the prestigious Nevele R Fillies Series.

The Southland Oaks runner up has been mixing her form of late but lands barrier two for tomorrow night’s assignment and has the speed from the mobile to give herself every chance.

“She had been a bit crook before Oamaru and went a much better race when she lined up there and finished third, but probably showed last week she can’t do that sort of work of 2600 from nine and show her usual spark.

“She hasn’t done a lot since last week, but she seems well and has been her usual self, a typical cranky female,” he laughed.

“We just have to hope the run last week hasn’t knocked her confidence. She has gate speed to go forward and land on the pace and lead if she has too. It’s not the strongest Nevele R heat we have had so far and would probably be an outside top 4 chance if she did everything right,” he said.

The fifth on the card see’s the juvenile Major Torque (Art Major) in action having missed a start in the Sires Stakes heat later in the night. While the two-year-old seems to have a few tricks up his sleeve, he also has a motor and just needs to do things right for Samantha Ottley to be a chance.

“We thought he would be the one to beat at his last start, but he galloped so we put a line through that. He was balloted out the Sires Stakes heat with his lack of form but he’s a nice maiden and drawn well enough so with any luck he is going to be pretty competitive in that race,” said Jones.

In the last race on the programme, Jones lines up the blue-blooded son of Bettor’s Delight in Major Memphis. The full brother to superstar race mares Stylish Memphis and Delightful Memphis has inherited some of the family ability but is often found wanting in the space between his ears, which is indicative of his form line.

“Some of his starts he looks like an above average horse, but he does let you down a bit and needs things to go his way. He definitely doesn’t have the attitude of his sisters put it that way. He’s a hard horse to train, you just have to get him right mentally and he needs the right run, so we just need to be hoping for a bit of luck with him really,” said Jones.

Looking further ahead, Jones has four runners nominated for Sunday’s Methven Cup meeting but with a weather bomb forecast for most of the country and the likelihood of snow arriving, it remains to be seen how the grass surface will hold up with adverse weather so close to race day.

The prospect of a mud bath is likely for several New Zealand Cup aspirants who will have to contend with a track that has had 150 horses go round before they contest the G3 feature over the extreme distance of 3000m. Early reports suggest some leading trainers may simply bypass the race which would be a huge disappointment for the club and their feature meeting for the year.

“Mine will still go around as they all have to run on the same track don’t they?

“But it’s probably one of those things where the industry needs to get together and make a decision in the next 48 hours about whether they move the meeting to Ashburton for the better horses.

“Arna Donnelly is staying here and is scratching her head as to whether she scratches Kango and the same will be going through the minds of Mango (Brent Mangos) and Mark (Purdon) with their runners,” he said.

On the bright side, sunshine is forecast for the three days leading into Sunday so participants can remain hopeful of seeing grass track racing at its finest.

When it comes to matters with harness racing at heart, Jones has never been shy of putting forth his opinion on industry issues and was one of several horsemen consulted heavily on the changes to the calendar that are currently being bedded in.

While he is not afraid to be critical of top brass in areas he thinks they can improve, the world champion reinsman and multiple G1 winning trainer gives credit where it is due, and say’s the progress made to the calendar so far has been nothing but positive.

“Early on it was a work in progress and more so for the trainers, but to be honest it’s one of the best things that have happened to the New Zealand industry since I have been involved.

“All our two-year-old races were crammed into the winter and now they are spread out and we have the opportunity to make better horses as a result. I experienced when I went to Aussie that taking our two-year-old’s there, we would dominate the early races but by the time the bigger races come round, the local horses had caught up. I think it shows now that having made the changes earlier than we did, the Aussie juveniles are as good as our own, if not better.

“The calendar changes are definitely a great thing and when you are working babies now, you know you don’t need to be at the races for 12 months and it just takes the pressure off the horses.

“As a rule, all the horses of mine that have gone on to do a job, we never pushed them early so it hasn’t affected my model a great deal. What it has done is give my owners a chance to race in some of the bigger juvenile races that in the past we simply weren’t lining up in so from their perspective the changes have been great also,” he said.

For complete Addington race fields, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink