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He wasn’t even supposed to be there but opportunity knocked, James Herbertson answered and come Sunday night he was a winner of the North East Fasteners Wangaratta Pacing Cup.
Having been originally booked for Birchip before tropical rain forced the postponement of Sunday’s cup, Herbertson returned to an invitation from trainer Amanda Turnbull’s camp to take the reins of Think About Me.
“(Birchip’s postponement) opened up the opportunity to come here,” Herbertson told TrotsVision. “(Russell Jack) rang me and said do you want to come? First of all I said no until five minutes later the Birchip meeting was called off. Then he rang me back and said it was off, and I said OK I will come.
“He said that, tonight, the little horse, if he can get to the front, he would be a pretty good chance.”
And so it would prove, with Think About Me pressing forward from gate two to take the lead from Abitmorebliss.
From there Herbertson controlled proceedings, running 29.7-second third and 28.8-second fourth quarters to hold all comers at bay, eventually winning by 6.9 metres in what was the five-year-old’s first go at a Trots Country Cups Championship leg.
“It’s a big thrill winning country cups, I’ve had the opportunity tonight to jump on this little horse and it was a good run,” Herbertson said.
“He’s a nice little compact horse. Pretty easy to drive. He’s a bit on the lazy side, it took us a little bit longer than I wanted to get to the front, but he stuck on well and he was cruising to the line.”
The victory has Think About Me equal 19th on the Trots Country Cups Championship standings and, importantly, puts him in contention for The Encore on May 2, the new race that acts as a Tabcorp Park grand final for the championships season. The first qualification for entrance is a country cup victory, something 15 horses have achieved this season. Entrants are then allocated on prizemoney won in the 2019-20 cup season.
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he Maori’s Idol Trotting Championship has a new contender after Sunday’s Toil & Soil Wangaratta Trotters Cup.
While Kyvalley Finn (24 points) and Jerichos Trumpet (19 points) added a further point for their eighth and seventh placings, victor Maori Law has leapt into outright fourth position courtesy of a terrific, gutsy victory.
The Bill Morgan trained entrant overcame his 30-metre handicap in the stand start, with reinswoman Juanita Breen guiding him on to the lead pack with a bit more than a mile to run and then advancing three-wide for much of the last lap.
Despite the effort, the Lawman seven-year-old’s class shone out for owner-breeder Fred Crews.
“It’s great to win on him, it’s nice to have a drive on him,” Breen said. “He’s been a favourite of mine for a long time. He is certainly the fastest trotter I have ever driven.
“He’s a lovely horse and I just really enjoy getting a winner for Bill and Fred. Bill’s been a good friend of mine for a few years now and it’s nice to be able to win a race for him.”
Maori Law is among entrants is Sunday’s North West Ag Services Charlton Trotters Cup, drawing gate five. He will start between Magicool, who’s third on the championship table, and returning star Sparkling Success.
