Burnham trainer Mark Jones has a five-pronged attack on the South’s biggest day of harness racing, headed by his star filly Delightful Memphis.
The Bettor’s Delight 3yr-old has been at the peak of her powers in her three most recent starts and has landed herself a barrier draw which should make her the horse to beat in the group 2 Southland Oaks.
In her last three outings, the Blair Orange-driven filly has run the second-fastest mile by a 3yr-old filly in New Zealand, then won from a standing start against older horses. In her latest start, she made ground to run second to the Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen trained filly Partyon, on a sizzling 25.9sec final 400m.
Orange has a raft of options of where to place Delightful Memphis from barrier 2.
"She can lead if she has to. The draws have dictated that we have had to go back last the two times, but she is pretty quick out if she has to be," Jones said.
"She is probably going as good as she has been all season, really."
Jones also has a Glenferrie Classic, one of the leading chances in tomorrow’s Southern Country Cups final.
Glenferrie Classic has landed a handy barrier, which together with the horse’s reasonably reliable standing-start manners also gives her driver, Samantha Ottley, plenty of choices in what Jones considers a very winnable race.
"She will be pretty hard to beat in that. She begins good and can make her own luck. It is not a super strong country cups field."
Ottley and Jones will also combine with Whittaker in tomorrow’s group 2 Southern Supremacy Stakes.
The pacer has had as much hype around him as any horse in the country’s lower grades, but he has stalled recently in his quest to turn that into race wins.
Whittaker was brilliant in two early-season Southland wins but has not been on top of his game since a failed Auckland raid immediately after those victories.
Jones is hopeful the horse might be edging closer to his best. He also lines up maiden Crystal Caprice in race 3 and trotter Kowhai Whiz in race 5, tomorrow’s fast-class trot.
- Jonny Turner
