Hood comes off Whats Up The Hill giving him an upset chance at $16 tonight at Auckland
By Barry Lichter • 10 May 2025
A crucial gear change could be just what erratic trotter Whats Up The Hill needs to upset at Auckland on Saturday night.
Co-trainer Ray Green is expecting a much better performance in the final race from the well bred three-year-old who broke on the first bend then switched into a pace for the fourth time in seven starts last week and finished 85 lengths down the track.
“We’ve taken the hood off him, it was shutting him down too much and making him too blase.”
Trialled at Pukekohe without the hood the day after his last race, Whats Up The Hill trotted perfectly, driver Zachary Butcher reported.
“It fired him up a bit and he left the mobile like a monster,” Green said. “He started from the outside of the gate and Zac reckoned he could have led easily.”
Whats Up The Hill contested the workout solely to get his ticket from behind the mobile arm so he could race in tonight’s Metro Trotters’ Heat.
Whats Up The Hill, centre, does everything right to score at Auckland two starts back. PHOTO: Megan Liefting/Race Images.And, against pacers, he cruised up to the leader, his four-win stablemate Lincoln La Moose, before being eased out of the heat.
“When he trots, he trots well,” Green said. “He’s a lovely horse and he’s only young. He just needs to go out there and poke round some more to get experience.”
Green knows it’s hard to tip a horse whose record, while limited, is littered with errors.
“But he’s always a chance. He’d be one of the main chances tonight if he did things right.”
Whats Up The Hill, raced by Lone Star’s Trevor Casey, his parther Kate Marriott and Lincoln Farms owners John and Lynne Street, is unwanted in the fixed odds betting at $16 and $3.40.
But he showed plenty of promise in his previous start at Auckland when he outfinished the well regarded Hillbilly, a $4.50 rival tonight.
Butcher has his second racenight drive on the horse tonight.
More news in Harness
Rivergirl Bella finally delivers - and Phil kicks himself for not being there or having a punt
This is it, Sammy, the draw’s a bit of a pain but you can eat these non-winners for breakfast
Prince Lincoln finally shows what he’s made of - and, wow, was that a blazing demolition!
Hey Wendy and Amy, go easy of Fergs as he’s doing a sterling job taming Lincoln Linda
Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Ray’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Rivergirl Bella
5.14pm
“She tries hard and is getting stronger. She just needs a trip to be right there.”
Race 3: Copy N Paste
6.16pm
“Maurice said he got a bit tired on debut but I didn’t expect a lot. Four months ago you’d have wondered if he’d ever qualify. He’ll improve on that - he’s improving all the time - but from seven he’ll have to go back and come into it late.”
Race 5: Lincoln Linda
7.14pm
Update: Scratched
“She’s up in grade but is a chance again if she can get a good run up the front of the field. It was a good effort last time to break 2:43.”
Race 8: Lincoln Maree
8.49pm
“She’s trained on OK and, while no champion, has to be a chance down in grade against the amateur horses.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 4: Jessie Lincoln
6.57pm
“I can’t see her beating Sammy Lincoln but with a good draw at last you’ll see a better performance. She’s capable of finishing in the first three.”
Race 4: Spirit Of God
6.57pm
“She bolted in at the workouts, leading out from a wide gate and getting home in 27.9. She’s a great driving little mare and has good manners. I could see her winning one very soon.”
Race 4: Sammy Lincoln
6.57pm
“I know we’ve said it before but he has been unlucky a few times and, all things being fair and square, it’s hard to see him beaten. The draw is awkward but everything points to him winning. There are no derby horses in there and he went a great race in the Northern Derby last start.”
Race 4: Marylynes Boy
6.57pm
“He’s a tidy little horse. I can’t see him winning from the (second row) draw but he’s like Spirit Of God, he’s not far away from winning one.”
Race 5: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.25pm
“He’s been a late developer. You can see it in his growth, his withers have finally popped up, and he’ll get better as time goes on. He’s no champion but he should be a handy horse through winter. He’s capable of stepping away fairly well.”
Race 5: Leo Lincoln
7.25pm
“It’s a toss-up between the two of them. Sugar Ray is a bit stronger perhaps but Leo is very good from a stand. You can forget that last run in the Messenger - he was only in there to help get the race off the ground.”
Race 7: Prince Lincoln
8.25pm
“He finally showed us what he’s got last week. Inside second row draws can be awkward - you’re at the mercy of the others - but he could end up with a good trail behind the leader.”
