Bitamuscle back with a bang

By Jonny Turner

As far as comebacks go, they don’t get more impressive than Bitamuscle’s winning return at Addington on Friday night.

First up since March and in just his second start in more than a year, the four-year-old powered to a standout victory for driver Blair Orange.

Punters had faith Paul Nairn could deliver yet another masterful fresh up training performance by backing the trotter into third favouritism in a quality line up.

And Bitamuscle didn’t let them down, cruising to the line and barely asked for a serious effort by Orange in the straight.

Perhaps the most impressive part came after the race when the generally reserved Nairn gave his assessment of the squaregaiter.

“He is a very promising horse.”

Bitamuscle burst on to the scene as a three-year-old, winning his first three starts for breeder-owners Marty and Vanessa Smith and Shaun and Lynn Lissington.

But the horse’s progress halted early last year because of leg problems.

“We had trouble with his knees, but then we found out he had a hairline fracture high up in a splint bone,” Nairn said.

“It has been a great effort by my vet – Sarah Daly – to get him back to his best.”

“Nothing is worrying him at the moment, so hopefully he can stay sound.”

Bitamuscle being an entire and not having trialled before his returning win made Nairn’s training performance even more impressive.

“I was hoping he would go well, his work at home had been good leading into the race.”

“It was a good effort to lead all of the way like he did.”

Bitamuscle wasn’t the only trotter to bounce back to his best form at Addington on Friday night.

Oscar Bonavena’s younger sister My Moment’s Now showed her true worth when she cruised to victory for driver John Dunn who gave her a perfect run in the trail.

The Andover Hall half-sister to the New Zealand Trotting Free-For-All winner is trained by Matt Purvis and is raced by his father along with Gavin Moffat.