Wangaratta’s Ledger stable says Frankly Harvey’s strong last-start showing at Seymour after a horror fall has the five-year-old primed for Friday’s $100,000 Wodonga Cup (1590m).
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Last month’s Cranbourne meet was abandoned when Frankly Harvey and Vin Fiz fell, with their respective jockeys Brad Rawiller and Brian Higgins transported to the Alfred Hospital.
“He was racing super, went to Cranbourne and I expected him to win,” John Ledger said.
“He was very, very lucky, he had a very nasty fall, the horse behind went over the top and actually stood on him, on his shoulder, but he came out of that remarkably well.
“It was a big effort at Seymour to recover from that, to go through the chiropractic work, he was vetted several times by Racing Victoria and he was sound.
“To run a really good race in preparation for Wodonga on Friday, that’s been his long-term plan this preparation.”
And not only did Frankly Harvey rebound physically at Seymour, he also recovered quickly mentally.
“He doesn’t like racing close to horses normally, he’s a horse that’s a little field shy if he’s got that extra bit of pressure on him,” Ledger said.
“That’s why we were so keen to get him to Seymour to make sure he got through the race.”
Most trainers prefer a single-figure barrier, but Ledger says his runner is the rule to the exception.
“He’s drawn one, you wouldn’t believe it, I think I’ve got eight runners (in the eight-race program) and he’s the only one drawn inside,” he quipped.
“He’s the only horse I would have preferred to have drawn a little wide.
“As long as he gets galloping room, if he gets squeezed up on the fence, well he won’t gallop, so the jockey (apprentice Tahlia Hope) will have to guide him off the fence.
“At least by the home corner, we want to have some galloping room.”
Frankly Harvey’s stablemate Fraulein Rustie will contest the final race, the Benchmark 64 over 1100m.
“She’s a speed machine, a class act who narrowly missed at Moonee Valley a couple of times and dropping back a grade,” he said.
“She leads most horses at Moonee Valley, no worries, so she’s a pretty smart filly.”
And Electric Charlie will contest the $30,000 BM 70 (1300m).
“He races well, drawn badly (barrier nine), but his form’s terrific,” he said.
The five-year-old is coming off a last start win at Wangaratta.
Electric Charlie boasts 10 placings, including five wins, from his 24 starts, racking up almost $90,000 in prizemoney.
