The pathway towards a Hurricane Harley-Lochinvar Art rematch kick-starts Thursday night when the lightning quick pair begin their campaigns for Alabar Vicbred Super Series success.
The pair hog the headlines in the four-year-old entires and geldings’ category, with Lochinvar Art drawing gate eight in the class’s first heat at Bendigo and Hurricane Harley gate two in the following race.
Thursday also hosts three four-year-old mares heats, with Miss McGonagal (heat one), three-year-old Vicbred winner Kualoa (heat two) and Our Princess Tiffany (heat three), a winner of $863,262 already, among the notables.
The first eight from each heat will advance to semi-finals’ night at Tabcorp Park Melton on December 22, when the two and three-year-old pacers will also battle for places in the New Year’s Eve Group 1 finals.
The three-year-olds begin their campaigns with heats at Ballarat on Friday, while the two-year-olds qualification begins at Shepparton on Sunday.
But first it’s the big boys and girls of the Vicbred Super Series at Bendigo, and with a favourable draw Hurricane Harley’s likely to be very short in the market on the back of his last-start winner over Lochinvart Art in the Hygain Breeders Crown Championship.
Bill Anderson, co-owner/breeder of Hurricane Harley with wife Anne, said their Bettors Delight four-year-old had “matured immensely”.
“A lot of things have gone in his favour with COVID, (it’s been unfortunate) for us as human beings, but in Harley’s case we grabbed him and put him back in the farm for 10 weeks,” Anderson told SENTrack this morning.
“He’d never had a break of more than three or four weeks from (trainer) Emma (Stewart) and Clayton (Tonkin’s), he thrived here. Ten weeks out, came back and I just think his behaviour, his attitude has really changed.”
It showed in that last start win when he stopped the clock in a 1:51.4 mile rate, matching the track record that Lochinvar Art had set just a month earlier in winning the Pryde’s EasiFeed Victoria Cup.
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