Horse racing: Queen of trotting has surprise tip for Alexandra Park punters

Auckland Cup winner Republican Party clashes with Aussie champion Leap To Fame at Kilmore tomorrow. Photo / Ajay Berry

The queen of trotting may have two impressive last-start winners heading to Alexandra Park tonight, but she thinks her rep with the worst formline might end up being the punter’s friend.

Michelle Wallis and husband Bernie Hackett had a career-best season last year when training 57 winners, capped by Hillbilly Blues capturing the Group 1 National Trot on New Year’s Eve.

Remarkably, of those 57 wins, 55 came in trotting races, with the majority at Alexandra Park – where it feels like the stable wins a trotting race almost every Friday.

That could well be the case again tonight, though Wallis and Hackett only have starters in two races on the small seven-race card.

Both Magic Dash (No 1) and Confessional (No 5) were impressive last-start winners and they clash in tonight’s feature trot, with Magic Dash having the advantage of a frontline mark and a 20m start over his stablemate.

“Both of them have to be good chances but it is a good little field and could be a really interesting race,” Wallis said.

“Magic Dash has only had two starts back since needing surgery for colic last year but won really well last start and has good manners.

“And Confessional came to us from Paul Nairn, because his connections thought he was better right-handed and he handled the track here really well winning last start.

“Magic Dash might have more speed and Confessional’s strength might be his stamina but these small fields can be really hard to predict.”

Also hard to predict has been Final Approach (Race 2, No 3) who resumes as one of the three stable reps in his race tonight, with the couple’s daughter Crystal Hackett doing the driving.

“We have always really liked him but he lost his way manners-wise last season,” Wallis said.

“But he has had two workouts this time in and done everything right.

“I’d say if he trots all the way and produces his best on Friday, he will be hard to beat.”

Tonight’s meeting also sees the first juvenile pacing fillies race of the northern season and with early favourite As One Wishes scratched with a minor issue, the race looks wide open, with manners the likely key.

Another favourite scratched tonight is Sammy Lincoln, who comes out of Race 3 leaving impressive recent workouts winner Ms Collins only needing to do things right to be the one to beat after a promising debut last year as a 2-year-old.

Aussie return for NZ Horse of the Year

Newly crowned New Zealand Horse of the Year Republican Party faces a familiar and daunting foe on his return to Australia on Saturday night.

The last-start Auckland Cup winner has drawn perfectly at barrier 2 in the A$150,000 ($175,000) Kilmore Cup over 2180m and looks to have the measure of his rivals, except one: champion Queensland pacer Leap To Fame.

Leap To Fame is coming off a stunning Cranbourne Cup win last Saturday and if he wins tomorrow, he becomes eligible for a A$1 million bonus, should he also win next week’s Hunter Cup.

With that level of motivation, punters can expect Leap To Fame to be put into the race early and Republican Party’s co-trainer Cran Dalgety has declared this Saturday night may not be all right for fighting.

So expect the big Aussie to be winning and Republican Party to be better for next week’s Hunter Cup.

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.