Our Harmony looks to remain unbeaten tonight

Our Harmony (Bettor’s Delight) looks to double down on her debut success at Cambridge Raceway tonight as she lines up in Race 3, the Equine Specialists – Here For the Horse Mobile Pace (6.22 pm).

After striding to victory at the same venue last month, her connections are hoping she can take another forward step in what is still a very early stage of her harness racing career.

Handled in her day-to-day training by Graeme Rogerson’s stable foreman James Stormont, the three-year-old daughter of Bettor’s Delight showed plenty of ability first up, but it’s taken some time to get her there.

“She’s been a bit of a struggle,” Stormont admits, “she took quite a lot of time and mileage to settle down.”

Known around the barn for her spirited personality, Our Harmony is owned by the Woodlands Partnership No.3 Syndicate and only qualified as a late two-year-old before being given a well-earned three-month spell. In her current prep, she again showed flashes of her quirky nature, with Stormont describing her as “a runner” – headstrong and full of energy.

But she turned heads at her sole trial at Pukekohe leading into her debut, winning comfortably, and showing she was ready to go.

“She did the typical Bettor’s Delight thing and stepped-up big time,” says Stormont.

That form translated to race night at Cambridge on July 17, where Zachary Butcher stepped in for Stormont, who was out with injury at the time. The filly took the lead early and controlled the race throughout to score a convincing win.

“She surprised me with how she stepped up at her trial, I was hoping for another surprise that night and I got it,” Stormont says. “Zach did a great job with her, really looked after her.”

A spike in temperature proved to be a setback and saw her scratched the following week, so Stormont opted to give her a light freshen-up. Since then, she’s been back in work under a new training regime and is reportedly thriving.

“We’ve changed her work around since she last raced, and she seems to be jumping out of her skin at this stage,” he said.

Tonight, she steps up again, drawn wide and back in the hands of Stormont himself.

“I’ll be happy if she behaves herself,” he says, “we’ve drawn wide, so we’ll just have to see how things play out early. If everything goes to plan, she’s capable of running in the money, and she’ll only improve the more she races.”

For the team behind her, tonight is less about pressure and more about progress, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Our Harmony add another strong performance to her growing resume.

She’s currently a $3.60 second favourite, behind the Jeremy Young-trained Mantra ($2.35).

For complete race entries, click here.

by Jordyn Bublitz for Harness Racing New Zealand