New Zealand's greatest harness driver Tony Herlihy thought he was going to Alexandra Park on Friday without an open class drive but has ended up behind the best pacer in the country.
Herlihy didn't enter his stable star Bolt For Brilliance for the open mile trot at AlexandraPark's huge meeting on Friday, as he will keep him fresh for the National Trot next week and the major trotting races ahead next month culminating in the Rowe Cup.
Herlihy finds himself in the hot seat behind last start The Race winner Self Assured in the $100,000 Mile, with the favourite facing the outside of the front line, as he did when winning the $900,000 slot race at Cambridge last Thursday.
The Taylor Mile has clearly benefited from The Race, with Australian pacers Mach Dan (9) and last Thursday's runner-up Majestic Cruiser (10) sticking around for it, while it has also attracted Spankem, South Coast Arden and Krug, the next three home in The Race.
Add to that 2018 Taylor Mile winner AG's White Socks and Cranbourne, and the Mile shapes as one of the strongest pacing races in New Zealand in recent seasons, albeit missing the injured Copy That.
Herlihy gets the Self Assured drive after co-trainer and regular driver Mark Purdon was suspended for his whip action in The Race.
Purdon originally offered the drive to Maurice McKendry, as he has driven Self Assured to win before, but McKendry opted to stick with his regular open class partner Hot And Treacherous, so Purdon turned to Herlihy, his brother-in-law.
Herlihy will need all his tactical genius come Friday, as not only has Self Assured drawn the outside of the front line, but many of the big names who drew inside him last week are there again on Friday.
While Bolt For Brilliance will be missing from the open mile trot, Herlihy will bring last season's Jewels juvenile trot winner Double Delight back for the first time this year.
