Harness trainer Leah Harvey, from Kadina, had pretty much the perfect result at Globe Derby Park on Saturday.
Harvey took three horses to the track and came away with two wins and a second.
Two of her horses, Hard Rock Shannon and Chasing A Win clashed in the opening event, the Diamonds Forever Night Pace (1800m), and they ran the quinella.
Hard Rock Shannon ($5.50) led throughout from gate three to score a seven-metre win from the fast-finishing Chasing A Win ($23.40) with the $1.80 favourite Itz Sportz Torque, two metres away third.
Two races later, in the Ubet Pace (1800m), Big Behemoth ($2 fav) led throughout to score a 4-1/2 metre win from Blue Beach Angel ($6.80) with Doubledipofheaven ($3.60), 12 metres away third.
Both her winners were driven by Wayne Hill.
Harvey said the only way the night could have been better would have been if the first pair had dead-heated for first.
“I’m not complaining, it was a good night,” Harvey said.
“The first two are such beautiful horses – very easy to work with.
“Big Behemoth is the best horse of the trio but doesn’t have the best temperament and because of his size can be a lot of hard work.”
Hard Rock Shannon came into Harvey’s stable from Port Augusta trainer Ash Holtham.
“Ash asked me to take him for a while because he thought the horse had more ability than he was showing.
“Mick (Darling) worked on his shoes and I did a bit of work on his back and he hasn’t looked back.
“His first win (on October 23 at Globe Derby Park) was enormous and I love showing it to anyone who didn’t see the race.”
Hard Rock Shannon was travelling well midfield with just over a lap to go when he was checked, broke and lost ground but recovered to round up his rivals and win.
“He had no luck in two subsequent runs but ran well and tonight when he was able to lead I thought he would be hard to beat.
“The winner rated 1:58.4 so Chasing A Win to come from near last and run second was a fabulous run.
“They are going very well.”
Harvey was delighted with Big Behemoth’s win.
“I have started putting ear plugs on him which is quite a tough job, but they worked, and he settled really well rather than trying to just go out and race.
“Because he is so big, I have to get a box to stand on to put the plugs in. Early on he resented them, so I didn’t worry but I tried again during trackwork this week, then again tonight and he is happy to have them in.”
Big Behemoth was never challenged on Saturday and had the race won a long way from home.
Harvey believes he will be even better suited when he runs against the better horses in fast-run events.
