Harness racing: Herlihy’s trotters can keep golden run going at Alexandra Park
Youneverknow could be the right horse at the right time to be one of the big movers of our spring trotting ranks.
And that could start at Alexandra Park tonight, even though champion horseman Tony Herlihy warns the 4-year-old might be half a run away from his peak.
Youneverknow will be having his first start in five weeks when he comes off a 15m handicap in a good field in the Plumbing World Trot, a race which also sees Belle Neige back for her first start since contesting the $600,000 TAB Trot slot race at Cambridge in April.
Youneverknow has a fair way to go before he starts contesting open-class races like that but everything he has done in his career has suggested he will get there, especially his last-start win, when he sat parked and bolted away in a 1m 58.7s mile.
With the New Zealand open-class trotting ranks at a low after the retirement of Muscle Mountain, Oscar Bonavena and Bet N Win, some new blood is needed and Youneverknow could be up to that grade inside six months.
“He is a pretty good horse and I think he will only get better with more racing,” Herlihy said.
“He had a little let-up after his last win but has won at the workouts since and while he will derive plenty of improvement from this Friday’s race, he will still be hard to beat.”
Even though he is on a 15m handicap, Youneverknow should settle handy and perhaps the most crucial factor will be getting an economical first half of the race while staying in front of key rivals Bravehearthighlander and Belle Neige.
There is also talent, albeit erratic, on the front line in Paramount Spur and Pantani, so the race could be a nice form guide to what lies ahead before other big trotting names like Hillbilly Blues, Meant To Be and Higher Power return in a few weeks.
Herlihy is having a red-hot run with his trotters and that looks likely to continue in Race 2 tonight, in which he has three of the favourites.
He has Franco Ronaldo and Muscle Memory on the front line and 2-year-old filly Bijou back on 30m, a huge ask over 2200m for a juvenile.
“They are all nice horses but obviously Bijou faces a tough task off her handicap,” Herlihy said.
“Franco Ronaldo was really good on debut after galloping and has trialled since and if he gets things right, he will be very hard to beat.”
Herlihy will be the sulky behind The Surfer (Race 8, No 11) in tonight’s main pace in which he faces a daunting task from a second-line draw over 1700m, especially as favourite Secret Beach is one of the more exciting intermediate grade pacers in the North Island after a mammoth last start victory.
The smokey of Herlihy’s team tonight could be He’s Not That Into U in the last race after he ran on well at Cambridge last start.
“He is getting better and hopefully he can settle a bit handier this week and be a chance,” Herlihy said.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.