The aptly named Spring Hummer has really been ‘humming’ lately.
And his ‘noise’ got louder when the speed sensation broke Horsham’s 410-metre track record yesterday.
Trained at Balliang by Lisa Delbridge, Spring Hummer ($1.90F) clocked a flying 22.78sec – lowering Kipling’s 22.84sec mark by around one length.
“He’s been running well, but the record came as a bit of a surprise,” Lisa said. “I was watching the race at home and Mark (Lisa’s husband) said ‘that’s fast you know; I think it may be the track record’.”
WATCH: Spring Hummer (5) was ‘humming’, clocking a new track record (22.78sec) at Horsham yesterday.
Spring Hummer (Apr ’17 Bella Infrared x Over Here) notched his fifth win from his past six starts. And Lisa has a theory on his pulsating recent form.
“I’ve put him in a compression suit in the kennels pre-race for the past seven starts and it seems to calm him down,” she said.
Lisa added that her son, Myles, bought Spring Hummer for $5000 from SA breeder Greg Board after he’d won his first two starts at Angle Park. He’s now won 22 races from 64 starts and $37,811 in prizemoney.
“Myles just has a knack of picking dogs, but he was a very nervy dog when we first got him… We spent two weeks sitting with him in the kennels working on his timid nature and now he’s the opposite.”
Spring Hummer exited from the ‘yellow’ alley yesterday, but ‘squeeze’ boxes don’t seem to worry him – 36 per cent of his wins have come from boxes 4, 5 or 6.
“He’s not a brilliant beginner and takes a few strides to get going,” Lisa said. “But once he takes off, he takes off!”
Photo taken by Daniel Thorogood.
