Hareeba Stakes winner Bond Street with trainer Rick Harrison (left) and track rider Dean McComiskie. 27568 By Paul Pickering
PAKENHAM trainer Rick Harrison saw something in Bond Street that David Hayes couldn’t – a second coming.
And that inkling became a reality last Wednesday, when the six-year-old sprinter scored the biggest win of its career in taking out the listed Hareeba Stakes (1200m) at Mornington.
Bond Street was released by both Hayes and Mornington trainer Jason Warren, only to be given another chance by Harrison and his partner, Joanne Malloy.
The pair paid around $6000 for Bond Street at spring sales in Sydney last year and their faith was rewarded with a share of the $48,000 winner’s purse last week.
But Harrison said it was a victory at Cranbourne on 1 February that served notice of Bond Street’s resurgence.
“We did (give him a good chance), purely because of the way he won at Cranbourne,” he said.
“He carried the top weight (58kg) there and won, so he was dropping five kilos going into that race (Hareeba Stakes).”
Champion jockey Glen Boss let Bond Street sit well back in the field, before sliding through on the inside.
“At the 600 it looked like he might not get a run, but it just opened up and he got a dream run down the rail,” Harrison beamed.
Harrison said he couldn’t take all the credit for Bond Street’s form revival.
In fact, it was local vet Dr Lindsay Elliot who provided the remedy for the gelding’s sore hamstrings in the form of regular acupuncture treatments.
Harrison said the acupuncture and some hard work on the water treadmill – at Paula Porter’s Clyde property – had rejuvenated the two-time metropolitan race-winner.
He has not decided on Bond Street’s schedule for the autumn, but said a tilt at Group One The Goodwood in Adelaide was a possibility.
