Harper Says Bushwacked is Ready to Lift

22 April 2021 | Ken Casellas
Logo

Byford owner-trainer Shane Quadrio’s smart colt Bushwacked has drawn ideally at barrier No. 1 in the $50,000 Champagne Classic for two-year-olds at Gloucester Park on Friday night, and reinsman Kyle Harper plans to set the pace and improve on his winning performance last Friday week.

There were only four starters in that 1730m event in which Harper allowed Bushwacked to dawdle through the opening quarters of the final mile in 34sec. and 33.8sec. before final 400m sections of 29.9sec. and a sparkling 27.2sec. on his way to an easy victory over Five Bangles and Battlescard at a slow 2.4.6 rate.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to get away with going so slowly this week,” said Harper. “I went a bit overboard and was able to get away with a ridiculously slow half and then only run one quarter (the last).

“Four-horse fields are very tricky to drive in, and though we don’t want to be rating too quickly early this week, we will certainly be rating a lot more genuinely than we did last time out.

“I think we can lead again, and he should have improved since his last run. He has gone 56sec. (for the final 800m) on multiple occasions, and if he can rate 1.56 out in front, I think he can win this week. The question mark for all the runners is stepping up from 1730m to 2130m. This will be a big test for a few of them, but I don’t think it will worry Bushwacked too much.”   

Gary Hall jnr, who drove Battlescard into third place behind Bushwacked a fortnight ago, said he was confident the Gary Elson-trained gelding was capable of turning the tables and winning this week’s group 2 classic.

“This will be a differently run race in which I will be happy to hold the breeze and try to control the race from there. Battlescard is pretty tough.”

Capel trainer-reinsman Aiden de Campo has a good opinion of Rock On Top, who looms as the youngster who should prove hard to beat despite starting out wide at barrier No. 7. Rock On Top has won at three of his four appearances. He possesses excellent gate speed and also is capable of unwinding a powerful finish.

Chris Voak will drive Ross Olivieri’s talented colt Griffin Lodge and is disappointed that he has drawn the outside barrier (No. 9).

“Griffin Lodge worked exceptionally well this morning (Tuesday), but we will need a lot of luck from the outside draw,” he said. “However, he’s got the ability to win. We’ve got to sit off them and come with one run.”

Baskerville trainer Ryan Bell is suffering from a torn ligament in a wrist and will be unable to drive his promising gelding Whataretheodds, who will start from barrier five. Bell has engaged Michael Grantham to handle Whataretheodds, who will be having his first start for two months.

“He was meant to resume racing in the Gold Bullion heats a couple of weeks ago, but he was suffering from a bit of colic and had to scratch him,” explained Bell. “He missed only two days work and went all right in a trial on Sunday when he went around without the blinkers.

“He’s a lot better with the blinkers on; he needs to be forced to concentrate. He doesn’t feel like much of a horse, but as soon as you show him the shillelagh or touch him with it, he drops into another gear. He is very lazy in trackwork but seems to switch on on race nights.”

 

Related News

29 March 2024
Gibson family honoured in more ways than one at Bathurst Carnival
SINCE the inception of the Bathurst Gold Crown in 1987, the Gibson family and their Success Stud have positively contributed to shaping the hugely-successful juvenile carnival. Originally based in Queensland before relocating to the idyllic Young region, the late John Gibson initially operated Success...
29 March 2024
Group 1 mares add star power to Riverina Championships
Four Group 1 winning mares - including two currently considered to be among the nation’s best - will clash in an intriguing battle at the Riverina Championships finals program at Wagga on Sunday. The meeting features two $100,000 finals for four and five year-old pacers - one each for the boys...
29 March 2024
Ford looking for Gold on Good Friday
The combined harness and greyhound meeting on Good Friday night in Hobart is fast becoming a Tassie racing tradition, and it’s back again with eight greyhound races and six harness events making up this year’s 14-race program. Driver Dylan Ford will be out to continue his excellent start...
28 March 2024
New HRV chair Adam Kilgour on challenges, opportunities
Newly appointed Harness Racing Victoria chair Adam Kilgour says his passion for a challenge and the people in racing drives his desire to strengthen the industry. Kilgour was yesterday announced to replace Dale Monteith as the head of the board, on which he has served since 2018, and said he was eager...
28 March 2024
La sun of a gun emerges as Blackbook zeros in on breeding line
La Machane won 20 of her 61 starts and more than $330,000 for connections in Ross and Greg Sugars' care and the mare's making just as big an impression in the breeding barn. Having given us La Puddie ($137,179) and La Captain ($182,020), the Bettors Delight mare has another nice type in Benbullan, who...
Click for more