168 starts and counts for WA ironhorse Hes Thunder

WA-bred eight-year-old Hes Thunder thrives on a diet of constant racing, and he will have his 168th start when he starts from the outside barrier in a field of eight. This will be his sixth start in December and his 41st in the past eleven months.

The Michael Young-trained Hes Thunder gets better with age. He was unplaced in his first 18 appearances at Gloucester Park before turning the corner, with his next four runs at HQ bringing one win, two seconds and a third place.

Despite the disadvantage of having to start from the outer barrier, Hes Thunder has good winning prospects and is able to make up for his second place in Follow The Music over 2265 meters at Albany last Saturday evening, when he set off from barrier five and settled at the back before charging forward after 250 meters to get into the wind and then fight on tenaciously.

Hes Thunder’s main rivals are probably Cullen Star, Stella Major and Vintage Blu.

Cullen Star, trained by Michael Blakemore, impressed two starts ago when he ran home strongly from the back to win from Stella Major in 1.58.7 over 2130 metres. On his next outing, last Friday week, he was the $4.20 favorite racing without cover before finishing sixth behind Wandering Girl.

Vintage Blu is a veteran with 133 starts, 15 wins, 33 placements and $131,540 in prize money. He will start from barrier No. 3 and has good gate speed, but it is very unlikely that he can get to the front, while Cherry On The Cake will certainly take the lead from the prized barrier No. 1.

For full race entries, click here.

Through Ken Casellasfor Gloucester Park