Joe wild about Harry's hopes of fulfilling Derby dreams

From the moment he stepped on Australian soil to join Joe Pace’s Harkness stable Harry Stamper has shown himself to be a special trotting talent.

At his second start for Pace the New Zealand-bred squaregaiter made a bold statement, producing an emphatic win in the Group 1 New South Wales Trotters Derby at Menangle.

He stormed home to run down Tough Love, emerging from five back on the pegs to face the breeze and then clinch victory.

For Pace, what made the performance all the more impressive was that the son of Majestic Son was at the end of a long campaign, which had seen him race consistently in NZ since a debut win last November.

Pace has a much different Harry Stamper going into Sunday’s Group 1 On A Streak @ Haras des Trotteurs Victoria Derby Final on Redwood Day at Maryborough.

Having had a long break after that initial preparation for Pace, Harry Stamper is right at the top of his game after four starts since resuming.

He stamped his authority in no uncertain terms in leading all the way in one of three Derby heats at Maryborough on Sunday.

The gelding toyed with his rivals in the home straight to score by 12.2 metres, clocking the fastest heat mile rate of 2:00.8

Pace was delighted.

“He went superb,” he said. “The (one) barrier helped him. He went to the front and did his own thing.

“He had a bit of a workout over the last 800m to win comfortably. That’s all you can ask for.”

Pace said Harry Stamper was fit and well equipped for the long trip, but faces a different challenge to the one had in his heat, having drawn outside the second row.

He will need to produce a similar race pattern to his win off 20 metres at Ballarat first-up this preparation when he sprinted hard down the outside late.

Anthony Butt is having his second drive on Harry Stamper after steering him in the heat and is chasing a second consecutive win in the classic after scoring with Kyvalley Hotspur last year.

Cravache Dor ($2.20) has been installed as the early favourite for the Derby ahead of Harry Stamper ($2.50).

The Anton Golino-trained Cravache Dor also led all the way to win a heat and would give Golino his second Victoria Trotters Derby success after preparing Une Belle Allure for success in 2017.

Riddells Creek trainer Chris Lang has three runners - heat winner Courage Stride, More Wanted and Toro Stride. Lang is a two-time winning driver of the race, having saluted on Kyvalley Road in 2003 and Jingling Silver in 2010.