Kayleb Williams wasn’t born when the last meeting was held at Ulverstone in Tasmania’s north-west in January 1996, but the former King Island reinsman will be chasing success in this year’s Ulverstone Cup, which will be held in Launceston on Friday night.
Williams will partner his favourite horse, Hayden Bromac, in the $14,000 feature, which is a standing start event over the 2698m trip.
Hayden Bromac has won at his last two starts, the most recent win being in Launceston on Tuesday.
“He was pretty impressive on Tuesday, he found the front at the top of the straight and he can half switch off when he hits the front. He was just racing Kadar through the hole in his blinker. Other than that, he was really good and had a perfect run into the race,” explained Williams.
Hayden Bromac arrived in the Ben Yole stable in January and in that time he has won six races, with the pacer’s fast-finishing sprint being seen in the majority of those wins.
“That speed late puts him into the race in a couple of strides, it is his greatest asset. A few of his wins he has came from last at the top of the straight,” explained the driver.
The Falcon Seelster gelding was placed in the North-Eastern Pacing Cup over 2698m, and Kayleb is expecting another forward showing but admits multiple metropolitan winner Shannonstheman will be hard to beat from the pole draw.
“He is racing well and is going to be hard to beat from the draw,” said Kayleb.
Another highlight on the card is the Max McCormack.
Max made a significant contribution to the Devonport Harness Racing Club in the roles of secretary, patron, and life member.
He and his wife Peggy worked to come up with some innovative ideas such as combined meetings with the greyhound club and the grandstand refurbishment in the late 80’s. Max was a main player in gaining Sky Coverage of Tasmanian harness racing on Friday night’s during the 90’s, with his contribution recognised by being inducted into the Tasmanian Harness Racing Hall Of Fame earlier this year.
The race named in his honour is restricted to pacers who have won less than $10,000 in prize money where All For Dave will be looking to register his second career win after an impressive debut in Hobart recently.
The seven-race card commences slightly later at 19:05, but as a result all races will be shown in prime-time on Sky Racing 1, as well as TasracingTV.