Harness Racing Driver Maurice McKendry is a legend of our sport and is a driver you can back with confidence every time he gets in the cart.
On Friday night at Alexandra Park he has 7 drives, of which the standout will be the horse he also trains in top 3-year-old colt Shandale who will once again be taking on the older pacers in the Smith & Partners Lawyers $20,000 Winter Cup.
Here's what he had to say about all of his drives:
Race 1 – (4) Mysistersastar – "She went an improved race last time out and is getting better with every look at the track. With further improvement she could feature in a race like this."
Race 2 – (2) Ideal Flipflop – "He is a nice wee 3-year-old who will be having his first run at The Park. From the nice draw of 2 he would rate an each way chance in this."
Race 3 – (3) Laugh And Cry – "This will be my first drive on her so I really don't know too much about her at this stage. She is another having her first look around here so will definitely be better for the experience."
Race 4 – (3) Armed Angel – "She ran an improved race last time out in her first look at The Park. She is on the improve but it's hard to see her beating Aymar all the same."
Race 7 – (4) Shandale – "It is his first start from a stand so there is a watch there but in saying that he is a sensible type so I am expecting him to step ok. He definitely has the ability to win a race like this and if he steps I am expecting a big performance from him."
Race 8 – (7) Eclipse Me – "She went well last start after dropping back early and making up plenty of ground late for fourth. I would be disappointed if she didn't feature in the first 3 here."
Race 12 – (7) Steady Reign – "He qualified nicely and is improving every time he steps out on the track. This will be his first race under racenight conditions and again will be another that will improve with the first look at the track but he definitely has the ability to feature if he can put it all together on the night."
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The Papakura training partnership of Steve Telfer & Chris Garlick have four runners in this Friday night at Alexandra Park and all four look to be in with a good chance of grabbing some of the money. The Alexandra Park newsdesk caught up with training parnter Chris Garlick to assess each of their four runners chances, of which he rated First Home their best on the night.
Here's what he had to say about each of their team's chances:
Race 1 – (7) River Emperor – "He went real good last week working to find the lead and doing all the work out in front. With his good gate speed we will be looking to make use of that again and be in a prominent position throughout. It is a very similar field to the one he placed in last week so we are expecting another competitive effort in this"
Race 4 – (2) Dazzle N Daze – "She was a touch disappointing after leading fairly easily last week but we feel that she is probably better with a sit so we'll look to drive her that way in this. She will need to improve but is a type that has shown some promise. She would still be needing some luck to get into three this week though."
Race 9 – (2) Rocknroll Princess – "She has a good gate to work with this week and has good early speed off the arm. Her run was better than it looked last time out and if she can get a nice sit in behind them she would rate a good place chance."
Race 10 – (7) First Home – "This bloke is our best chance of the night and we are expecting a big run from him. He is well placed in a field like this and if he can live up to the potential we know he has, he would go real close to taking this out."
Alexandra Park Newsdesk