By Michael Guerin
Tony Herlihy has two smart three-year-olds on his hands and he is going to let both Jethro Bodine and Bettor Heist tell him just how smart.
The pair gave Herlihy a training double at Alexandra Park on Thursday night, both using gate speed to trail then the passing lane for impressive victories.
For Jethro Bodine it was three wins on end while for Bettor Heist it was three of his last four, the only loss coming when he raced waywardly three starts ago.
“They are both turning into smart horses,” says Herlihy.
“Jethro is a good tough horse who tries hard and he has really high gate speed as he showed tonight.
“When they keep improving every start like he is at the moment you don’t know where they can end up.
“I wouldn’t say he was a Derby horse yet (Addington in December) because the best three-year-olds like Don’t Stop Dreaming and Merlin are so good but we will keep racing him and see where he ends up.”
Bettor Heist already looks a three-year-old worth considering a Derby campaign with as he beat some talented intermediate grade pacers in Magic Four, Simply Sam and a high-class filly in Kahlua Flybye in a slowly-run final race.
“That was a big step up for him tonight so he had to be a nice horse to beat them,” says Herlihy.
“You get the feeling if he keeps going the way he is he wouldn’t disgrace himself in the Derby so we will give both of them the chance to tell us where they deserve to end up by the end of the year.”
Herlihy earlier reined a smart juvenile winner in Hawkeye Pierce to win on debut in race two, with his trainers Logan Hollis and Shane Robertson adding the quinella with Mr Bondi in second.
While Kahlua Flybye had no luck late in the straight when third to Bettor Heist, her trainers Team Telfer completely dominated the two-year-old fillies races as Akatea headed home a very rare first five when she downed Adored Dreamer and Seaside Rose.
The night’s main trot saw Springbank Mason overcome his 40m backmark to record back to back wins in the hands of Mark Hurrell while the lower grade trot saw harness racing legend Luk Chin pen another chapter in his remarkable story by training and driving Jasinova to her 12th career victory.
