Team Telfer with talent at both Cambridge and Addington tonight

By Michael Guerin

Record setting harness trainer Steve Telfer admits he may not have the horsepower to defend his premiership title this season.

But that doesn’t mean he and training partner/sister Amanda won’t prove to be punter’s best friends at both harness racing venues of Cambridge and Addington tonight.

The Telfers not only won the premiership last season by a massive 60 wins but also set a new record for training victories in a harness racing season with 171.

Their premiership win was as good as confirmed by a red hot winter last season that saw the TAB pay out on the title months in advance but half way through this season Team Telfer find themselves 26 wins behind premiership leaders Robert and Jenna Dunn (81 wins).

“I think we will struggle to make up the difference this season,” admits Steve Telfer.

“We had a huge winter, by design, last season and we don’t have those numbers and type of horses this winter.

“And the Dunns are going great so while we are really confident we have plenty of good horses coming back, like Stella Rouge who was back at the trials this week, defending the premiership will be a real stretch.”

But Team Telfer do take one of the more exciting pacers on show to Cambridge tonight in Secret Beach (R9, No.5) as well as a decent support crew.

“He is a horse we really like and while he has won two of his four starts he had no luck in the other two either,” says Telfer.

“We think he could end up in the better three-year-old races at the end of the season.

“He has a workout before the races at Alex Park last Friday so is fit and has the gate speed to be put in the race so he is going to be hard to beat.”

As promising as Secret Beach is the race is a prime example of the depth being added to lower grade races as HRNZ tests running only one northern meeting a week for winter, with horses like Soul Artist, Showtym Girl, Always Flyin, Kings Watch, Beta Prepare and Final Change all good enough to win if the favourite doesn’t tonight.

Earlier in the night Telfer thinks the stable can take advantage of barrier 1 in the opening leg of the NZ Amateur Drivers Champs which start tonight and continue at Addington on Sunday.

“We have Cyamate in the first with Cheree Wigg on and I think that makes him a good chance from barrier 1,” says Telfer.

There could also be some improvement in Elizabeth Hill (R6, No.6) in her Dunstan Feeds Silk Road Heat for the female trotters.

“She has been trotting well in her work, more squarely than she had been, and I think she can go a big race this week.”

Elizabeth Hill does however meet two handy mares in Mad Mary, who has been good from a mobile in the past, and Hill Billie Bundy, who was a brave second in a Metro Final at Alexandra Park last Friday.

Further south Team Telfer have good numbers with some class on their side at Addington with Bettor Anvil (R8, No.9) the one Steve is really excited about seeing return.

“He has only had the one trial but he is obviously a really good horse who has raced the best all the way along so he will be hard to beat in a small field at this time of the year.”