Orange gets his birthday wish

The country’s leading reinsman Blair Orange couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present than winning tonight’s $200,000 Magness Benrow Sires’ Stakes Three Year Old Fillies harness racing final, driving Secret Wish (Bettor’s Wish) for trainer Hayden and Amanda Cullen. 

“What a magnificent day to get a couple of Group Ones on my birthday. It’s the icing on the cake so to speak,” Orange said. 

After the gate pulled away it was the charge of the light brigade with All Of Me, Smackdown and Cath all looking to get handy. 

“Cath was the only one I wanted to follow. We just had to maintain our forward position and wait for Seth (Cath).” 

Turning in, Orange had plenty of horsepower in front of him and once the passing lane came, Secret Wish let down nicely. 

“I was just a bit worried about Nathan (Indulge Me) on my back but when she got to the lane she won well. She had to do it tough.  She dug deep early and held that position, the tempo was solid the whole way and to have another sprint like she did was a credit to her.” 

Indulge Me powered home late and got withing half a neck of Secret Wish. Cath was two and a half lengths back in third. 

SECRET WISH REPLAY

Secret Wish had no luck in last weeks Northern Oaks, breaking in the running and losing all chance. 

“The draw was a big help tonight. We just weren’t steering right last week and she got on her knee slightly. We made a few changes during the week and we were pretty happy when the barrier draw came out,” Hayden said. 

For complete race results, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink