Star Chamber trying for successive Tasmania Cups

Star Chamber will attempt to make it back-to-back wins in the Tasmania Cup when he lines up in the Tasmanian Pacing Club's premier harness racing event over 2579 metres at UBET Park Hobart today.

The Nathan Ford-trained gelding won the race last year as well as a string of other feature events and he tuned up for tonight's assignment with an impressive win in the City of Launceston Cup over 2698 metres at Mowbray last Sunday night.

Star Chamber was clearly last season's best free-for-aller in Tasmania and he was recognised for his efforts when awarded the Beautide Medal for outstanding achievement on home soil for the 2014-15 season.

Tonight he starts from the outside of the second row (13) but that should have no effect as he is usually taken back at the start and saved for one powerful sprint at the end of his races.

His opposition tonight is strong, especially from interstate with the Victorian Lets Elope from the Brent Lilley stable expected to improve at his second start in the state.

Lets Elope was second to Star Chamber last week and that came on the back of an impressive win in the Ballarat Cup in his home state three weeks ago.

Another Victorian Hilltop Hustler is fresh from a first-up second in the Stawell Cup two weeks ago which convinced Victorian trainer Michael Stanley to send his handy free-for-all pacer for this race and maybe stay on for the Hobart Pacing Cup.

Hilltop Hustler resumed from a lengthy spell to finish a game second behind the Emma Stewart-trained Yankee Rockstar that started a short price favourite ($1.50) to easily win the Stawell Cup but the runner-up was game in defeat.

The other interstate invader is Glenferrie Hood that is prepared in Victoria by Ahmed Taiba.

Glenferrie Hood will be driven by ace New Zealand reinsman Anthony Butt who will be hoping the gelding can improve on his last-start fourth in the Yarra Valley Pacing Cup last Friday week.

Peter Staples