Blair Orange holds the aces on Harness Million night

Harness racing’s perennial premiership winner Blair Orange will drive half of the favourites on one of the richest nights of the year at Addington tonight.

But he admits one of them is confusing him more than the others.

Orange is well on his way to winning the premiership again and has a remarkable book of drives at tonight’s 12-race NZB Standardbred Harness Million meeting.

It includes Jumal ($1.28 favourite) in the Group 1 Flying Stakes, I’m The Boss ($1.26 favourite) in the $150,000 Harness Million Fillies, Eyes Wide Open ($1.55 favourite) in the $75,000 Harness Million Trot and Habibti Pat, who opened $1.85 to win the $40,000 Renwick Farms Trotting Classic.

While anything can happen in racing a couple of those steers look relatively painless assignments for Orange, with Jumal and I’m The Boss both expected to lead and win.

“Jumal will be a lot fitter for his fresh up win and I will be aiming to lead on him,” says Orange.

I’m The Boss may only be starting her career but she looks a little too classy for her mainly maiden rivals in her sales series race so Orange will attempt to adopt the same tactics while Eyes Wide Open is unbeaten heading into the rich juvenile trot.

“Obviously it is a two-year-old trot so it has a few more variables but this horse just keeps getting better and he is definitely the one to beat,” says Orange.

So too is Habibti Pat (R9, No.4) even though she is again taking on older trotters as she thrashed many of these last start and starts off the front line again.

“She has really impressed me for a four-year-old trotting mare and her manners seem good so I am not that worried about the standing start.

“I will say one thing, she is going get it wrong [the standing start] one day and prove costly but I think she will be fine and she has to be hard to beat getting such a big start off Mighty Logan.”

One of the other hotpots Orange drives tonight is Secret Wish (R11, No.9) in the three-year-old fillies pace and while he has no doubts about her ability he admits her outside of the front line draw complicates things.

“She is very good but she is still on the way up with some huge races ahead for her,” he explains.

“I definitely won’t be dragging her back at the start but how quick we go out might depend I’m what I am seeing from the horses inside me after 20m.

“There are some really nice fillies in there so it could be an interesting race.”

Her opposition include Northern Oaks winner Cath, the talented Cherish Me and northern filly Ride The Waves, who has put up some extraordinary performances in her short career and could be the value on her Addington debut.

Orange’s other favourite tonight is Nothing But You (R7, No.9) in the Southern Mares Classic and she too has drawn the outside of the front line in a strong field so Orange will have to produce some of his magic to get favourite punters home again.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Michael Guerin, for Harness Racing New Zealand