Talented three-year-old Watchmylips will be out to improve on his handy record in Launceston on Sunday night when the pacer lines up in race two, the Longford Equine Clinic Three Year Old.
His win in Hobart last start was well talked about for becoming a historic moment in Tasmanian harness racing with Ricky Duggan becoming the first Tasmanian driver to pass 1,700 wins.
But the effort of his trainer Rodney Ashwood to have the pacer spot on after being first- up since 17 May 2018 flew under the raider.
The gelded son of Hes Watching built up an impressive record as a two-year-old, winning two of his four starts, and finishing in second place at his other two efforts. But he then wasn’t seen until an impressive all the way win in Hobart on 14 June which was a credit to his trainer Rodney Ashwood.
“As a two-year-old he showed a lot of promise, but then I hurt myself and then he went a little bit sore, so we both went out for a while,” said Ashwood.
The trainer is happy with the way the pacer has done since the run.
“He pulled up real good, he went into that race about 85 percent fit, and I reckon he is around 95 percent now,” he explained.
The last start win was over quality three-year-old’s Kohanah and Colby Sanz and has seen the pacer installed as the $1.55 favourite for Sunday’s race. But for the first time in the pacer’s career, he will have to come from back in the field after drawing barrier four on the second-row, in every start to date Watchmylips has either led or sat outside the leader.
“It will be interesting, we will see what happens tonight, and it is the biggest field that he has ever raced against,” said his trainer who once again has given the drive to Ricky Duggan.
Other runners given a chance in the market are Kosimo at $6.00 and Heza Sport at $8.00, both horses chased home Bring The Flave in Launceston last week.
Ashwood has two other runners engaged Sunday night, and they both appear in race six.
Spoilt Sport is first-up since late March where she defeated Giftofjoy in Launceston, which is her only win on the Launceston track in five tries.
“There hasn’t been any trials for her in recent weeks, she will probably need one or two runs before she’s on top of her game,” said Ashwood who will again hand the reins to Ricky Duggan.
The other runner from the Ashwood stable in the race is last season’s Group 2 Bandbox winner Still Hungover who hit the line well after being held up in Hobart two weeks ago where she finished third to Pink Ponder.
“She pulled up well, she got held up and was doing her best work late,” said Ashwood who will take the reins.
Ashwood like many southern trainers has had an interrupted week with 152mm of rain falling at his property in the last week alone.
Despite it being a competitive night of racing it is the appearance of Ryley Major in a trial before the race meeting as one of the highlights of the meeting.
It is the first public appearance for Ryley Major who hasn’t been seen since winning the Tasmania Cup in mid-March.
The first trial is scheduled for 15:57 with the first race set to start at 17:17.
Local tote punters are in for a treat with a $5,000 Exacta jackpot on the first three races.
