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Tonight is what trainer Arna Donnelly hoped her training career would look like.
Once known as the Cambridge horsewoman who improved other people’s cast-offs, Donnelly is now one of the most respected trainers in the New Zealand harness racing industry.
Tonight, she has some of the best horses competing at both Addington and Alexandra Park, a rarity for anything but the elite premiership-winning stables with surnames like Purdon, Telfer or Dunn attached to them.
“It is pretty cool having top horses at both meetings but now we have to try and win a race or two,” Donnelly explains.
Possibly the best chance is Jolimont (R9, No 5) in the main pace on sprint night at Alexandra Park.
He has looked an open-class horse in the making for the past year and was a strong but luckless sixth against Merlin and the big boys in the Spring Cup two starts ago before he had to sit parked and undid himself by pulling too hard in the same grade last start.
He drops several grades tonight and while he meets another who has been racing at that level in Lady Of The Light, Jolimont has a better draw and the gate speed to use it in the mobile mile.
Jolimont rearing up.
“Even though he was well beaten last start, his sectionals were great and he has come through that well,” confirms Donnelly.
“If he races up to his best, he has to be hard to beat.”
It is no good thing that Jolimont will run straight to the lead but if he does reach the pacemaking role, it is hard to see him being run down.
Donnelly also has Le Major (R8, No 4) at Alex Park tonight and while she doesn’t doubt his motor, he doesn’t fill her with the same confidence as Jolimont.
“We know how good he was last season and he won two trials before his fresh-up run this time in, but he was disappointing there.
“I really don’t know where he is at but he gets his chance to stand up this week and show us.”
Rough And Ready (R6, No 3) finds himself in one of tonight’s two Metro Finals but his trainer fears he has lost his gate speed so is looking forward to getting him back to standing start racing.
The Purdon/Phelan team look to hold the key to that final with Dawson and Always B Elite, while the earlier Metro Trot Final is very even but the early $12 price given by the bookies for Taylad To Use (R5, No 12) looked over after two recent wins in fast times.
At Addington, Donnelly has stable star Kango returning but was expected to need a run in the main pace as he hasn’t trialled, however she has three good reps in a stacked Race 5.
She has Mako, Little Spike and The Surfer up against one of the better 3-year-olds from earlier in the season in We Walk By Faith.
Mako was outstanding when fourth in the Group 1 Flying Stakes last start but Donnelly stops short of rating him her best chance.
“I was actually really happy with all three of them last start so it might come down to who gets the right run.”
Harness racing’s big weekend
Tonight: Alex Park and Addington on Friday Night Lights.
Saturday: Leap To Fame races at Menangle, Sydney,
Sunday: Tuapeka Cup at Invercargill; Just Believe races at Maryborough in Victoria.
Monday: Ashburton Flying Stakes Day.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s racing editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
