Dreams Of Eric puts nightmare behind him and is training ‘super’ for Thursday night

Dreams Of Eric’s last run at Cambridge turned into a nightmare when he crashed heavily soon after the start.

But, while you might expect his confidence to have been knocked, co-trainer and part-owner Nathan Delany says on the contrary - the little horse is working so well, he thinks he can win on Thursday night, even from the outside of the gate.

“It’s not a great field and I think he can beat them, the way he’s been working.

“He’s still on his game, he’s been training real super, the best he ever has, and he feels sharper all round.”

Delany says that’s a tribute to the toughness of the three-year-old who shied and fell soon after leaving the gate on July 31, believed to have been spooked by children playing along the fence line.

It set off a chain reaction that saw three other runners severely checked and David Butcher catapaulted out of the cart.

Miraculously, no drivers were badly hurt - Eric’s driver Andre Poutama suffered a broken rib, and the horse escaped with only grazing to his knees and a hind leg.

“The way he went down, I thought he’d broken his leg,” Delany said.

It took some time to disentangle Dreams Of Eric from the wreckage of the cart which co-trainer Ray Green said was a complete write-off.

“It was a $9000 cart too, along with the wheels, and they (HRNZ’s sulky fund) give you only $2500,” Green said.

Delany said Dreams Of Eric needed only the weekend off before resuming work and nothing he’s done since indicated he was any the worse for wear.

“We’ll probably change things up this time to make sure he gets his confidence back.”

Instead of blasting to the front, and leading, as Harrison Orange did in his previous start, Delany says he’ll tell him to go back and make a mid-race move.

“Both races Harry has won on him he’s needed luck and the horse has found his own. He does it himself. He’s a tough little horse.”

Delany has set his sights on getting the Vincent colt to the Harness 5000 meeting at Ashburton on December 21, where he can run in a $60,000 race for three-year-old colts and geldings sired by stallions with stud fees of $5000 or lower.

“He’s third in the ranking at the moment and just needs to race another three times to qualify.”

Bookies opened Dreams Of Eric the $3.60 favourite for Cambridge’s fourth race earlier today.