Hillbilly Blues and Merlin take out Flying Stakes

By Michael Guerin

Two very different ways of handling the same problem both paid dividends in the feature races at Cambridge on Friday night.

The short version of this story is two of the best horses in the country, Merlin and Hillbilly Blues, won their respective Flying Stakes, both after leading.

But there was a lot more to it than that.

Hillbilly Blues was the first of the big guns to get rolling as he was beaten for speed early in the $40,000 open trot over 2200m but driver Tony Herlihy wouldn’t take no for an answer early as he pressed on to get the lead.

He might have been expected to stay there but surprisingly Herlihy handed the lead to second favourite Oscar Bonavena when he came knocking, a gutsy decision if either Oscar ran clear or one of his rivals beat the $1.60 favourite.

Which looked likely when Belle Neige surged past Oscar at the top of the straight but as brave as she was Hillbilly Blues drew her in and got up to win on the line.

It was another step up the ladder for the now five-year-old trotter who must be at the top of shopping list for any slot holders in the TAB Trot race wanting a local rep as he is simply faster than most of our good open class trotters and with more upside.

“That was very impressive to run Belle Neige down tonight as he gave her a good start before we got the passing lane,” said Herlihy.

“If there is somebody out there who wants him for the slot race I am sure we would be interested.”

Slot race or not Hillbilly Blues has so many options heading forward as he is well mannered, fast and the experience left-landed on Friday night will stand him in good stead.

Merlin’s driver Zachary Butcher also had to deal with some mid-race pressure from Mark Purdon with Akuta on the Pacing Flying Stakes but he handled it differently.

Merlin had blasted straight to the lead and Akuta went back to last in the four-horse field but when Butcher saw Purdon coming at the 1600m he put the whip up and made it clear the front wasn’t there.

Akuta was forced to go back to last again, Merlin cruised along in front and bolted clear, Akuta making good ground for second after his rollercoaster race.

Co-trainer Barry Purdon was full of praise for Butcher’s drive and outlined a New Zealand-only campaign for the rest of the summer and autumn.

“There are some really good races for him here including obviously the slot race he won two years ago,” says Purdon.

“And he has the Roy Purdon and the Mile and the Messenger so we think we will keep him here while he is a happy, settled horse racing so well.”