David Butcher aims for Metro Series Final win at Alexandra Park

Hooray Henry and David Butcher (7) win their Metro Heat at Alexandra Park last Friday. Photo / Race Images

David Butcher laughs when asked how many drives he has at Alexandra Park tonight.

“Not many,” says the 60-year-old champion reinsman.

Butcher is set to play a big hand in tonight’s feature as he trains two of the main chances in the $35,000 TAB Metro Series Final Pace, with Hooray Henry and You Little Beauty both winning hopes.

It is rare for Butcher to train two winning chances in the race of the night as for much of the last 25 years his training career has come second to freelance driving, albeit he and son Benjamin are working more horses than usual at the moment.

But while Butcher’s skills in the sulky are still as sharp as ever, his name appears alongside fewer horses in the form guide than a decade ago.

“The fields are a lot smaller for a start, with plenty of eight-horse fields at The Park,” says Butcher.

“And a lot of the bigger stables have regular drivers.

“Also I don’t travel as much as I used to so you get less regular drives.

“Put all of those things together and I often only get two or three drives a night, sometimes only one.”

That can also be the case for two of the other greats of the Alex Park driving room, with Tony Herlihy still popular but rarely bothering with a full book and Maurice McKendry similar.

The latter pair have both driven well over 3000 winners while Butcher sits on 2677 domestic wins plus plenty more in Australia and more importantly he has won almost every major pacing race that matters, the notable exception being the Miracle Mile.

“I might not be driving as much but I am still really enjoying being out there,” says Butcher.

“But these Metro Finals help in winter as it isn’t quite as much fun as when it is warmer.”

Hooray Henry (R5, No.8) will be Butcher’s choice of his two stable reps tonight in a race that would provide a free win should he be able to overcome the outside draw.

“He won his heat, which means if he wins the final it is free and I think he can,” explains Butcher.

“But his chances would be helped if they go crazy inside him.

“If they go hard he can come into the race later and win but if a horse like Iron Brigade rolled to the front and got his own way he would be hard to beat.”

You Little Beauty is well-named, a brave little mare who tries hard but Butcher says her biggest winning performances have come against the lower-grade mares.

“She is a good tough mare but these races are hard for horses like her to win.

“All these horses can go at least 2:40 [for 2200m mobile] up against the markers so the ones who have the gate speed to get there become really hard to beat and mares like her, who are tough, can go big trips but still not get any money.”

Tonight’s main trot could also be a story of sectionals as good, up-and-coming trotters Ocean Eyes (R4, No 1) and Hillbilly Blues (2) are on the front line over 2200m and if they step and keep running it becomes hard for their better-performed rivals to move mid-race and still outsprint them.

Friday Night Light’s harness racing also continues at Addington tonight where Akatea (R7, No 7) and Wilma’s Boy (R9, No 7) would only need to perform up to their best recent form to probably win again.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.