Punters Info<\/a><\/p>\nBy Michael Guerin<\/p>\n
The trainer who could dominate tonight\u2019s Group 1 Trot at Alexandra Park has a surprise for punters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because Michelle Wallis says the pecking order for the four reps she and husband Bernie Hackett take to the $100,000 TAB Queen of Diamonds may have changed in the last week, even if the bookies don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n
The couple are nearing the end of a hugely successful season and could put an exclamation mark on it tonight with Belle Neige, American Muscle, Faith In Manchester and Courmayeur in the 2200m mobile, all with realistic winning chances.<\/p>\n
Belle Neige has been set for tonight\u2019s race for months and not only looked spot on with a big last-start third but has secured barrier 1 and has the gate speed to use it.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is going well and we know she has gate speed because she has led from barrier 8 before,\u201d says Wallis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t like to see her burn really hard but Crystal knows how to drive her and she should be really hard to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n
So with all those ticks in the right boxes how come Wallis isn\u2019t oozing confidence with Belle Neige?<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually think there isn\u2019t much between the four of ours. And after the way she won last Friday maybe American Muscle is actually our best chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has kept getting better and was very good last week. She has a good record in these type of races and she is likely to be on the speed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFaith In Manchester is proven in these races too, even though I was a bit disappointed by her third last Friday while Courmayeur might actually be the most talented of the four but also the one who needs the most favours.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I know Belle Neige is the most logical one of ours but I am not sure American Muscle might end up being the best hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
Belle Neige does have that inside draw advantage though and three of the stablemates being on the front line could lend itself to Belle Neige leading and then handing that role to either American Muscle or Faith In Manchester.<\/p>\n
Not only would that give her the trail and passing lane but also potentially put second favourite Walkinonsunshine three back on the markers.<\/p>\n
What should punters make of all that? If you’re going to back Belle Neige maybe cover on American Muscle at $6.50.<\/p>\n
Tonight\u2019s $100,000 Woodlands Queen Of Hearts for the pacers has a similar tactical feel as Arafura (No.1) and Captains Mistress (No.2) are high class fillies but likely to be followed out at the start by really good mares in Esmeralda and Francent.<\/p>\n
Any of the four could win with tempo and the early speed map crucial but like with Belle Neige in the trot, Arafura may end up being the one who needs luck the least.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was still pretty good last week and the extra distance will suit her but Francent was very impressive and it goes to show how hard those older mares can be to beat,\u201d says Arafura\u2019s driver Tony Herlihy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two of tonight\u2019s other features will see the favourites undoubtedly having to come from off the speed as Oscar Bonavena and Mighty Logan faces 20m handicap in the main trot and Merlin and Akuta the same starting point in the $60,000 Lincoln Farms Franklin Cup.<\/p>\n
Mighty Logan\u2019s opening price of $3.50 was too long compared with Oscar\u2019s $1.80, especially if Mighty Logan can step well and get in front of his key rival.<\/p>\n
But Merlin deserves his $1.75 quote in the Pacing Cup as he is the best horse on spring form, with tempo his biggest concerns in a small field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"12 December 2025 , Punters Info By Michael Guerin The trainer who could dominate tonight\u2019s Group 1 Trot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-180428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}