Oamaru feature preview – Hannon Memorial

The “Road To the Cup” continues on Sunday with the running of the Hannon Memorial at Oamaru.

It’s a great race with a great history.

Some of the early names on the trophy include the likes of Johnny Globe (a two time winner of the race) and the Derek Jones driven Caduceus who won the title in 1959, the grand mare Robin Dundee prevailed from a 24yard handicap in 1965 while Palestine won back-to-back Hannon Memorial titles in 1976 and 1977.  Slightly more recent winning performances have come from the great Bee Bee Cee (1994) the brilliant Iraklis  (1997 and 1998) Bobs Blue Boy (2005) and Monkey King (2011) while Mighty Flying Mac blew the tote apart with his win in the race in 2015 when paying $33 to win. Last year it was Classie Brigade proving too strong for a select field in what was little more than a sprint home.

This edition of the “Hannon” has a little more to it than last year and it’s pleasing to see a number of genuine open-class prospects from Southland making it to the track in great order and ready to press for Hannon glory.

The impressive Nathan Williamson runner Pembrook Playboy looks one of the leading chances having drawn an inside #2 barrier, he could well be the initial leader and may have options on just who to hand-up to if he so desires. He’s been well supported on the tote and does demand respect, he’s impressive!  Classie Brigade, caught late last week by Di Caprio, continues his NZ Cup preparations and also looks well placed, his #3 draw almost certainly ensuring a run on the speed once again.

Other interest runners in this field come in the form of the Geoff and James Dunn trained Laver, one of the toughest animals going around, who may fancy his chances of getting around this field at some stage and asking them all a few questions late and the Brent White trained Cranbourne who looks to step up into open-class company after impressing at recent trials.

The quality doesn’t stop there either, Mark Jones has two in with Plutonium Lady and Stylish Memphis both here, Henry Hubert will look to get things right from behind the tapes once more and be a factor while both Vintage Cheddar and Robyns Playboy could throw their hooved spanners into this work too.

This a good field with the overall numbers involved meaning that this should be a cracking contest.

Let’s hope that the tempo is stern enough to get a sound indication on just where a few of these nice horses sit in terms of their overall abilities.

Can the Southland based horses really put their Canterbury counterparts on notice here? It’s going to be a intriguing watch.

Ben McMillan