Trainer Joe Pace mapped out plans for a winter holiday in Brisbane after his talented squaregaiter Harry Stamper returned to the winning list in the Yabby Dam Farms Trotters Free For All at Melton on Saturday night.
Sent out a well-supported $2.80 favorite, Harry Stamper worked to the front inside the first 400 metres of the race and was never headed thereafter in scoring by four metres from Im Bobby and Watts Up Partytime.
It was the six-year-old’s first triumph since August 2024, and Pace cited issues with the horse’s stifles as the reason for his absence from the winner’s stall.
“His stifles started locking up after the Inter Dominion heat at Newcastle which is why he kept galloping on the first turn,” Pace said
“We tried everything including injecting them, but nothing worked. And then we tried a ‘stabbing’ procedure under anesthetic and it has turned him around.”
Harry Stamper returned to something like his best when runner-up behind Keayang Chucky in the Australasian Trotting Championship in February.
Pace said the horse will be aimed at the Inter Dominion at Albion Park in July.
“We will point him that way and if he’s healthy that’s where he will go,” he said.
Julie Douglas took the training honours on the night after preparing Rakero Slammer and the $41 chance Clear Left - courtesy of a brilliant drive from Jack Laugher - for victory.
Laugher somehow found the spot three back along the pegs from a wide front row draw and eased away from the inside approaching the home turn, with the son of Art Major producing a sharp finale to score.