Major Hot leads Kiwi charge in Brisbane tonight

Daring to chase the riches in Queensland could still bring Group 1 harness racing glory for David and Stacey White, just not with the horse they expected.

The Whites, the lone Kiwis flying the flag through this huge Queensland Constellations, had to scrap Group 1 plans with their top young trotter Bet N Win due to a cruelly-timed hoof abscess.

Enter their new stable addition Major Hot (Art Major).

The fact they were spending a chunk of time in Queensland with Bet N Win, saw Major Hot transferred to them from Mark and Nathan Purdon’s stable a few weeks ago.

“It’s a privilege to be given a classy horse like Major Hot for his major Albion Park targets,” Stacey White said.

After an Albion Park win and second in the Redcliffe Derby for Purdon, Major Hot ran a terrific third in the South-East Derby at Albion Park at his first run for the Whites.

He followed it up with a win in a slick 1min53.2sec mile rate for 2138m at Albion Park last week.

The son of Art Major is a $6.50 shot in tonight’s $150,000 Group 1 Queensland Derby (9.36pm).

“He’s really come on since last week’s win and his work has been great,” White said.

“It’s just a shame about the draw. He’s a really genuine horse, so with the right luck we’re sure he’ll run a big race.”

It’s an even Derby with no standout.

Emma Stewart’s Victorian pair Bay Of Biscay (gate 11, $3.30) and Kingman (seven, $3.80) head the betting, but also both have tricky barrier draws.

Back to Bet N Win and White said he will be back chasing feature success at NZ Cup time.

“All going well, he’ll be aimed at the Dominion and the other feature trots back home,” she said. “Hopefully we can get back over here and have a crack at some of the feature trots sometime in the future as bit of redemption.”

For complete race entries, click here.

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing New Zealand