By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk
Trainer Adrienne Matthews would love to have a stable full of horses the ilk of The Hulk.
The eight-win gelding has continued to pay his way, placing in his last four starts, and Matthews is hoping he can improve on those results at Cambridge Raceway on Thursday when he contests the Tote Burger Now On Uber Eats Handicap Trot (2700m).
“He has been going pretty honest races and he is back in a grade that he is competitive in,” Matthews said.
“He doesn’t finish the race off as strong as he would a year or so ago but he is getting older with a few aches and pains, and at the end of the race it is starting to tell on him.
“He still gives it everything he has got and he tries his heart out every time he is out there.”
While he doesn’t possess the same speed as he did in previous seasons, Matthews said his reliable standing start manners should out him into the fray once again this week.
“He is getting away really good now,” she said. “He has lost some of his speed so he just needs to get up on the pace and keep the speed on and he can keep trucking at the end.
“There are normally a couple that just come out and sprint past him. He gives it what he can.”
The Waiuku horsewoman has just the one runner at Cambridge Raceway on Thursday and will head to Alexandra Park on Friday night with two runners – Hesashorething in the Dunstan Speedfeed Mobile Pace (2200m) and Jono B in the Bell Scaffolding Mobile Pace (2200m).
“I thought Hesashorething’s race the other night (finishing fourth at Alexandra Park) was really good because he did a bit of work early and they put the acid on down the back,” Matthews said.
“He grabbed the bit and wanted to run with Mimi E Coco, who stopped. He hit the front and he didn’t give it away, he dug in hard and sprinted up the straight with them.
“He had missed a little bit of work because we got a vet treatment done to him in-between races, so he blew up a little bit after the race, so I am expecting some improvement.”
Jono B is another who has been dealing with injury.
“We have had a few little issues with him, just some feet problems. We have just had a lady doing some massage on him. He had a bit of a muscle tear in a shoulder muscle,” Matthews said.
“He is going to find it a bit tougher from the draw (5) on Friday. It is a bit tricky as he will need to get across and get back somewhere.
“He is probably not good enough to go around them and make his own luck so he is going to have to hope they go hard up front and be finishing off.”
