At least if trainer-driver Bob Butt’s prediction about what his stable runner is capable of is correct.
Roydon Muscle is a relative newcomer to Butt’s care, who after two disappointing performances at Nelson was excellent in his subsequent two starts at Addington.
“We worked so well for Nelson that I thought he was hard to beat, but he didn’t race in,” Butt explains.
“I thought he might be one of those older horses that performs well but doesn’t perform on race day, but he races much better at Addington.
“Maybe he just likes it there.”
Roydon Muscle returned to the class two starts ago to finish a solid fifth after an early mistake in the Group 3 demolition job of Muscle Mountain over 1980 meters last Friday.
He returns to the standings this evening after a 10m handicap in the Breckon Farms Trot, with only one horse ahead of him, so the chance to move to the front and leave his main rivals Bounce N Beyond (30m) and Eurostyle (40m) chasing hard.
“I think he could trot 3:17 or 3:18 in the 2600 meters and that would make him difficult to catch,” Butt said.
“Obviously Eurostyle is a good mare so she will struggle in the small field, while Bounce N Beyond seems to be improving and he has been testing well lately so he could be the one we need to beat.”
If Bounce N Beyond were to win, it would be fitting as he was bred by racing sponsors Breckon Farms, whose owners Ken and Karen Breckon were honored with the Outstanding Contribution award at the HRNZ Horse of the Year dinner in Christchurch on Saturday.
Butt releases an early-season two-year-old in the final race of the rare Addington program on Thursday evening, with Fanfare (R10, No. 2) facing just three rivals.
The son of King of the swing is unbeaten in four public trials and will be difficult to maintain, but although the field is small it has a Cran and Chrissie Dalgety trained youngster and two from the Ross Houghton barn, so stables that know a lot about training juvenile winners.
Earlier in the evening, Butt Prophet (R5, No. 9) rates as a nice girl, but he will have to start on the outside of the front line with a number of horses that are better than the first class in him, including last Friday’s striking debutante Elegant Delight.
And impressive last-start winner Milou moves up the class in Race 7, with the recent stable addition having to overcome a second draw, albeit with her most favored rivals Gone Surfin and Amaretto Delight alongside the front line.
For full race entries, click here.
Through Michael Guerinfor Harness Racing New Zealand
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