The Locomotive doing trackwork in Stockholm, Sweden
NSW horseman Brad Hewitt admits he will feel like a fan watching on when his star trotter The Locomotive tackles the second race of his daring Swedish raid on Sunday.
Hewitt has been back home for almost three weeks since driving The Locomotive into a luckless sixth placing in a heat of the iconic Elitlopp at the Solvalla track in Stockholm.
“You feel a bit strange and helpless back here, but the plan was always to leave him there in good hands for a few races after the Elitlopp,” he said.
The Locomotive drew too wide in his Elitlopp heat, but is much better suited from gate four in the Group 1 Stora Pris, which is scheduled for 6.30am Sunday morning (Australian time).
“Everything I’m hearing from over there is good, but it’s hard to measure because they worry about the times he’s running in work.
“I felt we had him in a terrific spot when I left and I just wish he’d been able to race a week after or at least sooner than three weeks later like this because he really didn’t have a hard run at all.
“I just hope they’ve got enough work into him in between runs because he’s a horse who needs it.
“If he’s where he was at Elitlopp time and given the much better barrier, I’m sure he’s a big top three chance this week.
“I’d love to see him lead, but even if he just settles handy without being outside the leader, it would be much better than getting back to last like the Elitlopp.”
Importantly, the Stora Pris is the race former Aussie trotting champion Just Believe ran a fantastic second in two years ago.
Hewitt said there was no rush to bring The Locomotive home.
“It will be a race-by-race thing to see how he’s going, but he’s missing the Inter Dominion and there’s not much else really big for him until early next year, so he can stay a while and then have a spell when he returns,” he said.
As much as Hewitt would have loved to have stayed longer in Sweden, many of the other stars of his Goulburn stable have feature race targets at home.
Open-class star Captains Knock opens his campaign aimed at next month’s Brisbane campaign when he clashes with Miracle Mile hero Don Hugo in the Golden Mile at Menangle on Saturday night.
“He needs a couple of runs before Brisbane. While he’s ready to go, it’s a strong race first-up and I don’t want him having a gut-buster at this early stage,” he said.
“He’s still a little bit off his peak, so I know there’s plenty of improvement to come from this run.”
Hewitt also has a Brisbane trip booked in with his exciting youngster Rewatch, who will trial against older rivals at Goulburn tomorrow.
“He’s going well and we’ll get a good guide because there’s a couple of handy ones in the trial,” he said.
The Mick Harvey-owned Rewatch, who boasts two wins and a second in the Group 1 Bathurst Gold final from his three starts, will run in the Ladbrokes slot in Australasia’s richest two-year-old race, the $500,000 Protostar at Albion Park on July 12.
PHOTO: Courtesy Brad Hewitt
