Hurricane Harley’s advance from the naughty corner to good books was brisk and the brilliant three-year-old is well placed for TAB Breeders Crown glory, says trainer Emma Stewart.
Friday night’s extraordinary all-the-way win at Ballarat, when Hurricane Harley set an age track record mile rate of 1:54.2, had left Stewart encouraged the Lauriston Bloodstock colt could defend his Breeders Crown two-year-old win.
“He can be a little bit naughty, your hearts in your mouth with him a fair a bit of the time,” Stewart told RSN 927’s Gait Speed program.
“His run in the heat was super, when he’s right he’s real good, but I wouldn’t count out (stablemate) Out To Play and also Demon Delight, I thought they were terrific as well.”
Stewart’s stable produced seven of last week’s nine heat winners and looks particularly well-placed in the showcase IRT three-year-old colts and geldings’ division after Hurricane Harley held out highly-rated Lochinvar Art.
It was a poignant return to form for the Bettors Delight colt, who had finished 7.7 metres off the pace in the Betterthancheddar Vicbred Super Series final just a month prior.
“He wasn’t 100 per cent going into the Vicbred final, we had a lot of trouble with his feet, he had a little issue right before the final,” Stewart said.
“His work since then has been terrific and his run last week showed that, so I think he’s definitely on the improve. He handles the racing well, he holds his condition good, so out of the three that I like in that division he’s probably coming through the best at the moment.”
Hurricane Harley has drawn gate nine for Saturday night’s Breeders Crown semi-finals at Bendigo. Click here for fields.
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