Hilary leads them, throws a shoe, and shows she’s not made of glass
By Barry Lichter • 25 November 2018
Like Cinderella fleeing the ball, Hilary Barry lost one of her slippers at Pukekohe yesterday, so fast was she skipping along.
And that made the run by the Bettor’s Delight filly even more creditable as she finished a close-up third in the two-year-old mile trial for driver Zachary Butcher.
“She ripped off one of her shoes about halfway round,’’ says trainer Ray Green. “Zac said he had to nurse her along after that so she’s gone really well.”
Hilary Barry, who hinted at what was to come when powering home the previous week, was given her head at the start by Butcher, and showed impressive speed to cross over from six on the gate.
She never put a foot wrong from then on despite throwing the shoe and, while nabbed late by Miss Shuga and Emmber, beaten two heads, she fought on well.
Hilary Barry … a real tradesman.“She was getting a bit tired - that’s the fastest she’s ever gone - but Zac didn’t really drive her out.”
The time for the mile was a slick 2:04, the fastest recorded so far by the new season’s juveniles at Pukekohe, with closing splits of 59.1 and 27.9.
“She’s not a real speedster, she’s tradesman-like, and is a real trier.’’
Green says he won’t be nominating Hilary Barry for the season’s first two-year-old race in the north on Friday night.
“There’s plenty of time for her. But I will put in my three who trialled on Friday night (Sir Tiger, Man Of Action and Perfect Stride) and see if they can get a field together.’’
Hilary Barry has made excellent progress at the workouts in the last few weeks since her initial blip when she galloped in two heats, heavily in season and then losing a hopple carrier strap.
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Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Mark Dux’s comments
Wednesday night at Redcliffe
Race 1: Captain Nemo
7.17pm NZ time
“It’s a reasonable field, they’re not push-overs, but they’re all beatable. It will all come down to who gets the right trip. If we have something go our way we could get some of it as there’s not a lot between them and I don’t think he’s far off now. We’ve got a bad draw again and there’s a bit of speed inside us so I’ll tell Angus to just play it by ear.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 4: Lincoln La Moose
7.32pm
“He’s a pretty good horse. He was still below his best last time at Cambridge - he needed the race - but went very well for second behind King’s Watch. With his ace draw, he should be right up there for Zac (Butcher). He always looked a bit delicate but he’s got tougher.”
Race 4: Obadiah Dragon
7.32pm
“He’ll go a good race but our others look better here. His last run was below par for him so we took a blood off him and he had a bit of a virus going on. He was at the tail end of it but it was enough to stop him.”
Race 4: Lincoln Lou
7.32pm
“Even if he’s half a run short, I don’t think it will matter, he’ll still be too good for this lot. He only had a mild virus which came right with treatment and he’s trained on well since. He feels pretty good and if I was betting man, I’d bet him for sure based on his last run, which was massive.”
Race 4: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.32pm
“He’s in a ‘coming of age’ phase. He rushed up beside them last start and wanted to lay all over them and give them a hug. But that’s normal coltish behaviour. He does that in training as well, rushes up and switches off. He has a lot of ability but also a few little behaviour traits that we need to get on top of.”
Race 6: My Copy
8.24pm
“It won’t be easy from four on the second row but he’s very honest and, if opportunity knocks, he’ll be right there. If he gets a trip, he’s always ready to pounce.”
Race 9: Tyson
9.39pm
“He should be one of the favourites. The raw ability is there and he’ll definitely win races as he has a bit of speed. How far he will take us we have yet to find out but I thought he did really well last time given the run he had.”
