Herlihy was the heir to Wolfenden’s sulky throne and says with any luck Seve can help him honour Wolfenden’s memory in his first start of a new campaign.
“He is first-up but he was racing against the very best juveniles at the end of last season,” says Herlihy.
“So being back in this grade, albeit against some nice horses, will suit him and we have gelded him since he last raced so I think he might find the line better this campaign.
“So I expect him to go well.”
Seve spent much of last season racing dual Harness Million winner Merlin and was competitive in the early juvenile races, something Herlihy has made an art in the last two decades.
That ability to get young horses to run fast early has again been on show in this freshman crop as Herlihy trained the first winner of the juvenile season when Yourdoinamazinsweety (R6, No 3) bolted in at Cambridge against some of the same opponents he meets tonight.
“He is a lovely big strong horse who loves to get rolling and he is also only the second horse one of my sons Richard has raced so I am thrilled to see him get a good horse.”
Stablemate Major Jay is also a smart type but still maturing in a nice field, with Frisco Bay having looked forward at the trials, and Herlihy thinks Mr Kaplan will be hard to beat again in race eight.
For all Herlihy’s talents — he has won a record 3635 races in New Zealand and many of the biggest races in Australia — even his skill might not be enough to get Son Of Mac home in tonight’s feature, the Alabar Classic.
“I really like him but he has had no luck with the draw this week or in the Harness Million,” he says of the Kyle Marshall-trained pacer.
The race could be dominated by Sherlock even though he finished 11th in the Harness Million after never getting into the race.
“He is the best of our three chances and while he didn’t have a real run last start he has done enough work to be fit enough to win,” says trainer Mark Purdon.
