Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Hotly Pursued, the warm $1.80 favourite for the 2130m Garrard’s Horse And Hound Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night, gave his supporters a scare when he was in a cantankerous mood and was beaten for early speed.
Trainer Murray Lindau and reinsman Kyle Harper were planning to use the four-year-old’s good gate speed in a bid for an all-the-way win. But Mitchell Miller had other ideas and he drove $12 chance Soho Santorini out hard from the No. 5 barrier.
Soho Santorini led by a length but was unable to cross to the front as Harper urged Hotly Pursued forward to take up the running.
“Hotly Pursued got a bit cranky at the gate and went sideways, bumping into Bee Jays Boy,” said Lindau. “He missed the kick by about half a length before he enjoyed setting the pace.
“He is a nice frontrunner who is also able to sit and sprint at the end of his races.”
After a slow lead time of 38.4sec. and an ambling opening quarter of 31.4sec. Hotly Pursued dashed over the final quarters in 28.8sec., 28.2sec. and 28sec. to win by 2m from the $2.20 second fancy Jawsoflincoln, who raced in sixth place in the one-wide line before sprinting home brilliantly. The Miki Taker ($11) did well to finish third after racing without cover.
Hotly Pursued, bred and owned by Lindau and his partner Claire McNaughton, has earned $122,083 from nine wins and eleven placings from 30 starts. Lindau will be setting him for the $100,000 Westbred Classic for four-year-old entires and geldings over 2536m on April 12.