Harness racing is not making an appearance at Wingatui until a dual-code meeting next March, but some of the Otago harness racing fraternity went out to the Taieri Plain for an early raid on Saturday.
Cross-code trainer Amber Hoffman produced Enchanter to win at his fourth career start when hebettered Thorn Majic in the closing 100m in the 1600m maiden - her first win as a trainer in her own right after six wins in partnership with Graeme Anderson.
The weekend was topped off in the harness code by Jaccka Justy's win in the group 3 D G Jones Trotting Cup at Motukarara courtesy of a clever drive from Hoffman's harness training partner Jonny Cox.
Enchanter had two unplaced runs in the North Island earlier this year before Hoffman took over the training.
"He doesn't need much work - he's a big lazy bugger," she said.
There was nothing lazy about Jaccka Justy's win as Hoffman and Cox's weekend went from good to fantastic.
The Continentalman gelding galloped away from the start of the 2810m grass track feature, and was still looking for a gap with 300m to go before Cox found room wide to beat a star-studded field of trotters by 1 lengths.
"He really grabbed the bit, got out at the right time and showed what he can do."
