Jockey Chad Schofield couldn’t have written the script any better for his first ride on Blazing Harry earlier this month in a race where there was no margin for error.
And with a strong win under a big weight as evidence of his promise, Schofield feels the four-year-old is even better placed to deal with any adversity he may face in the Evergreen Turf Handicap (1400m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday.
Blazing Harry carried 61.5kg and jumped from gate 13 when he scored at Randwick at his Sydney debut and Schofield said with a 5.5kg drop and single figure gate he has more room to move as he strives to prove himself in tougher company.
“He made it easy for me, he jumped quickly and showed speed then relaxed,’’ Schofield said.
“We got the spot behind the leaders and as soon as I got that spot I was very confident, and he was very strong with the weight too.
“He gets a lot of weight relief compared to the other day, I think Kembla is a track that’s going to suit him too.
“He’s a big striding horse and he’ll get nice and balanced on a big track like that.”
With only five starts under his belt Blazing Harry, $4.20 with TAB on Friday, is all upside according to Schofield.
He showed some early promise winning on debut and finishing a closing second behind Steparty, one of the favourites for the Illawarra Mercury Gong, as a two-year-old.
The switch to Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr’s Rosehill stable as seen him go to a new level and Schofield has forged quite a successful partnership with the team over the past six months or so.
“They’ve been very supportive of me, right back to the first couple of horses they brought up,” he said.
“He hasn’t had much go his way before coming to Sydney, he’s very untapped.
“I think he’s a lovely, young, progressive horse and he’ll be able to take the rise in grade in his stride.
“You’d think it’d be easier on him, we have a more comfortable weight a much better draw.”
Stablemate Hedged has trialled to Schofield’s liking on two occasions as he kicks off his summer campaign in the Group 3 $300,000 Snap Print Solutions The Warra (1000m).
He said aside from what he’s felt on the horse’s back, the gelding’s form around the likes of Joliestar and Ostraka tell him he’s well above average.
“He’s been feeling very sharp in his trials and his trackwork and I think the 1000m at Kembla is ideal. He’s drawn a nice soft gate, it’s a lovely race for him,’’ he said.
“There’s some fast horses there, he’s jumping and being quite sharp in his trials so it could map really well for us.
“He’s got by far the strongest form in the race, there are some slick 1000m horses there and we are first-up but he’s been trialling well enough to get the job done.”
– Racing NSW