New Zealand’s unluckiest pacer Hawkeye Pierce finally drawn to show his best at Alexandra Park

Hawkeye Pierce and Tony Herlihy are the ones to beat at Alexandra Park tonight. Photo / Trish Dunell

Hot favourite Hawkeye Pierce could be forgiven for being a touch confused when he scores up from barrier 2 in the race of the night at Alexandra Park tonight.

Because the 4-year-old is far more used to bad draws and hard runs than what he faces over 1700m tonight.

An impressive last-start winner when fresh up for trainers Logan Hollis and Shane Robertson, Hawkeye Pierce has been brave but often beaten, winning just three of his 16 starts.

While his eight second placings suggest he is something of a “gunna”, Hollis says the barrier draw Gods have cursed Hawkeye Pierce.

“He drew well in a couple of his early starts in only very small fields, but he has barely drawn well in the last 18 months,” says Hollis.

“That means he has often had a really hard run when they consistently pace 2:40 for 2200m at The Park.

“But I have never been disappointed in him.”

Trainers complaining their horse never draws well is one of racing’s all-time greatest hits, but in Hawkeye Pierce’s case, Hollis is spot on.

In his last 10 starts, he has drawn inside barrier 5 just once, with a draw sequence of 5-7-8-7-6-3-6-10-7-11, so barrier 2 tonight is going to see him using a lot less energy than usual to get or stay handy and almost certainly covering less overall ground.

“The one thing about all his bad barrier draws is we don’t really know how much gate speed he has because he hasn’t had much chance to use it,” explains Hollis.

“But one time I drove him at the workouts and asked him to leave the gate, he bolted out, so I think it will be there.”

While backing horses with a three from 16 record at $1.70 may not make percentage sense, Hawkeye Pierce looks to have found himself in an ideal race, with his two best-performed rivals, Village Rebel and Mighty Looee, fresh up and drawn wide.

Logan and Hollis, who have a very good strike rate, also have Minjee (R4, No 6) in the same race and suggest her wide-ish draw is okay as she is better out and working in her races.

Earlier in the night, the small Pukekohe stable takes Gotta Go Miki (R3, No 3) to a nice mares’ race with plenty of chances, and Hollis says ability isn’t her issue.

“She is a horse who has been sent to test us,” he laughs.

“She has the ability to win this but does a lot wrong, but she is worth following.”

The surprise package of their stable this campaign has been Franco Salah (R6, No 8) who has been very tough in his latest runs but will need to be so again from the outside of the gate.


“We didn’t know he could do what he has done this campaign, so he has become a horse who is always a chance in this grade.”

Tonight’s main trot will provide one of the other highlights as horses like Lord Popinjay (40m) and Romeo Foxtrot (30m) attempt to overcome their big handicaps in just 2200m, with their starts and the manners of their rivals crucial components.

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.