Back to basics for Bet N Win at Addington on Friday night

[Wandering Eyes]

By Michael Guerin 

After a failed experiment last week Rowe Cup-winning trotter Bet N Win will go back to basics for his return to racing at Addington tomorrow night.

The Canterbury five-year-old might be the best trotter in the country, having not only won the Rowe Cup at Alexandra Park in May but he finished second in the Inter Dominion in Brisbane in July, beating home Oscar Bonavena.

The latter stands in Bet N Win’s way in the $40,000 Braxton Farriers Worthy Queen Trot at Addington tomorrow night at what is a rare 13-race meeting.

The Group 3 is also a rarity in that it is only 2000m but the big three of Bet N Win, Oscar Bonavena and Muscle Mountain all start off the 20m back mark.

That would usually be the punting kiss of death but the reality is they are so superior to their rivals, and the handicaps in the race are staggered so they aren’t giving away the full 20m to all their rivals, that one of them should win.

Bet N Win has the possible disadvantage of going into the race fresh and punters who saw his race night workout at Addington last Friday might baulk at the fact he galloped when getting up to full speed in the home straight.

Co-trainer David White says that is his fault as he tried to find Bet N Win more speed by taking his shoes off for the workout.

While not common here, trainers in Europe and Scandinavia race their trotters barefoot in big races quite often, the belief being in their most natural state they can trot faster.

Sometimes trotters there race with no front shoes but shoes on their rear hooves while in heat and final races like the famous Elitloppet in Sweden horses will sometimes wear shoes in the heats but race barefoot the final two hours later.

With a couple of hundred years of breeding behind them the European-bred trotters can get away with it because their gait is often so clean.

As it turns out, Bet N Win can’t just yet.

“We tried something different last week but it didn’t work,” admits White.

“I think it might work in the future so I haven’t given up on the idea of racing him shoeless to get more speed out of him but not right now.

“So he will have the shoes back on for Friday.”

Footwear issues aside White and his wife Stacey couldn’t be happier with Bet N Win for his comeback and they literally know he has the heart to get the job done.

“His heart rate is amazing,” explains White.

“A normal horse might have a heart rate of 85 beats per minute after a workout but his is usually 75bpm even after a good workout, and never gets above 80.

“That is around 5 beats per minute lower than it was this time last year so as he is getting stronger the work is taxing him less.”

If Bet N Win’s new shoes and big heart combine at the right time he might just be the horse to beat in the Renwick Farms Dominion Trot at Addington on November 11 but White says tomorrow’s night comeback dash could be more about manners.

“Usually you wouldn’t be confident with a horse off a 20m handicap over 2000m but Oscar Bonavena has been coming off back marks and beating up on most of these horses,” he suggests.

“So I think one of us backmarkers should probably win and that might come down to who steps the fastest.

“That could be us because he is usually so quick away but even if that is right we wouldn’t want Oscar getting straight on to our back as I don’t think there is a horse in Australasia who can beat him for speed under those circumstances.”

The TAB opened Oscar Bonavena the $2.60 favourite for tomorrow night’s race with Bet N Win decent value at $4.60 and Muscle Mountain at $6.50.

A trot of that quality would usually be the highlight of most harness racing meetings but it is just one of a string of major races at tomorrow’s New Zealand Bloodstock Standardbred Harness Million meeting.

There are three of those sales series races including Jumal trying to remain unbeaten in the $200,000 freshman boys pace, Akuta and Republican Party faces 25m backmarks in the open pace and Marketplace heads a hot three-year-old pacing field in the Dakins Flying Stakes.

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