Photo: Chanelle Lawson
By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk
Local pacer Pull The Other Leg will be out to continue his impressive run of form at Cambridge Raceway on Thursday when he lines-up in the Helen Gray Memorial Mobile Pace (2200m).
The Mike Berger-trained gelding has featured in the money in all nine of his starts, including three visits to the winner’s circle.
The Sir Lincoln gelding recorded his third victory at Cambridge Raceway on Saturday and Berger was pleased with his performance.
“It was a good run on Saturday,” he said. “It’s one of the first times he has come from behind, he is usually up front. He came home really well, he was four or five-wide coming around that last bend.
“He has come through the run well, he has eaten up, and he seems pretty bright.”
Pull The Other Leg will be driven by stable junior driver Luke Whittaker from barrier six.
“I don’t really give driving instructions, but Plan A will probably be to drive him from behind again because he hasn’t had a lot of field experience yet,” Berger said. “But sometimes when the gate goes that can all change. If no one is looking at going out you have got to have a Plan B.”
The four-year-old gelding is currently 15th in order of entry for the Harness Jewels 4YO Emerald, just over $3,000 shy of the 12th qualifying place, and Berger has aspirations of making the field with his charge.
“We will play it by ear, but hopefully he can make the Jewels,” Berger said. “He is about 15th on the list at the moment. They are on your back doorstep and it’s nice to have one in it, so that is what we would like to happen, but whether or not it does we will have to wait and see.”
Pull The Other Leg will be joined in Thursday’s race by stablemate Spirit Of Anzac, who was held up late when finishing sixth at Cambridge on Saturday.
“I was really pleased with him. He doesn’t get many good draws, but he doesn’t have a lot of gate speed anyway, so he does come from behind,” Berger said.
“If you end up four or five-wide from the 400m you just can’t do it with the speeds they are running, so we just drove him for luck and he was pushing the winner over the line really. He didn’t get much of a gap. He didn’t get a chance to pull the plugs.”
Spirit Of Anzac has recaptured form of late and Berger has put that down to the work by equine muscle therapist Peter Neal.
“He has been racing really well and has got back to his old form,” Berger said. “We have had Peter Neal, he is an equine massage guy, working on him and he has just turned a corner since he has been working on him.
“He is in really good form at the moment, so he is a chance on Thursday.”
Earlier on the card, Berger will line-up Six Times A Lady in the Dunstan Horse Feeds – 100% NZ Owned & Made Mobile Pace (2200m).
“She has been a bit of an enigma because her trials have been really good, but we have been disappointed with her racing,” Berger said.
“We tried a little bit different last week and took a lot of gear off her and she just knocked up the last little bit. It was a better run, she paced better and did things better.
“Hopefully she gets out good enough to get a nice sit and be nice and handy, and she might get some of it.”
