Trots Centre: Julie eyes second win with second-chance Joh

The reclaimed horse who last year captured plenty of hearts is well-placed to grab his second win at Stawell today, says trainer Julie Brimacombe.

Hook Eye Joh, a lightly-raced five-year-old who was saved by his trainer and owner after a chance discovery, steps out at 4.13pm tomorrow for the TAB Long May We Play Pace, buoyed after his extraordinary last start burst into third place.

“He hammered home to finish third, he was trapped for a run and for him to get home like that was amazing,” Brimacombe said.

It really was. See the replay below.

The performance is representative of Hook Eye Joh’s continual improvement, Brimacombe said.

As the must read story tells, the timid Dawn Ofa New Day gelding was given a second shot at a racing life and, after much patience, provided great reward with victory on debut. Since then it’s been a case of continual education and improvement, with his following nine runs delivering five seconds and then the last-start third.

“The first win was great. He has since had a couple of unlucky seconds, when we thought he could have won but just lacked a bit of luck,” Brimacombe said. “He’s always been very competitive and is improving with each run.”

But he’s also, occasionally, a bit of a handful.

With husband Darren, Brimacombe has been gently reintroducing Hook Eye Joh to the float after a recent nearby screech resulted in a charge and cracked ribs for his trainer.

“I was loading him on to go to the races and our neighbor’s got pigs and one screeched,” Brimacombe said. “When that happened he roared on to the float and I happened to be in the way.”

The trainer’s ails have since healed and, with “patience and persistence”, Hook Eye Joh’s overcome his float nerves to ensure he will be ready to roll today.

He will again partner with Hamilton reinswoman Jackie Barker, equal leader in the drivers’ standings for the West region.

“I’m confident,” Brimacombe said. “Jackie knows him very well. He is a bit of a sit-sprinter and runs on hard the last 600 in pretty good time. If he can do that and there’s speed on early he’ll be a good chance.”

And, most likely, win a few more fans.

“Every time he’s raced we can’t believe the odds he starts at. Because of the story, I think, some extra punters are having a few dollars on him,” she said. “It touched a lot of people. I still get random text messages from people I don’t know wishing him luck before a race.”

CLICK BELOW TO HOOK EYED JOH’S LAST START:

TALKING TROTS ON SENTRACK:

Hosts Jason Bonnington and Blake Redden have another big line-up for today’s Talking Trots on SENTrack, which runs weekdays from 11am-1pm on 1377AM in Melbourne, 657AM in Perth and 1575AM in Wollongong.

Click here to listen live and for links to download the SEN app.