Ollivici Photo by Stuart McCormick
THE King of trotting thinks he has found his next superstar.
Chris Lang, back and thriving after a “sabbatical” away from the sport, believes the lightly-raced Ollivici has all the ingredients to follow in the hoofprints of the greats he has trained like Sundons Gift, Let Me Thru, Skyvalley and National Interest.
The five-year-old Ollivici, a half-brother to former Kiwi trotting millionaire Stent, made it 12 wins from just 25 starts when he returned from a spell to stroll home at Melton in the Maoris Idol free-for-all (1720m) at Melton last Saturday week.
It was an important win, and one expected by Lang after Ollivici simply wasn’t himself in four unplaced starts earlier this year.
“He wasn’t right, and, in retrospect, I shouldn't have pushed on, but all the big races were on at the time, and it’s hard to just turn your back on them,” he said.
“I put him out for a good spell in late February and have been absolutely thrilled with how he’s come back. He’s back to the horse I thought he was going to be a year ago.
“I’ve always really liked him. He’s had that bit of X factor and always had something about him. His speed is so exciting.”
Ollivici has been backed from $2.90 into $2.60 to make it two-from-two this campaign despite drawing outside the front row (gate seven) in Friday night’s Group 3 Shepparton Trotters’ Cup (2190m).
His main danger will be another regally bred former Kiwi, One Over All, who is racing in fantastic form for the Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars stable. The mare will start from inside the back row (gate eight).
While Ollivici’s first-up win was little more than track work and a 400m dash home, the biggest takeaway from it was the gate speed he showed. Lang will surely utilise that again from the wide draw in search of the lead, especially with stablemates Bullion Harry and Courage Stride drawn inside him.
Lang then has the chance to back up Ollivici in Saturday week’s $50,000 Australasian Trotting Championship at Melton.
Beyond that, the Group Bill Collins Trotters’ Sprint (October 14) and the Brisbane Inter Dominion series (December 1-16) are the major targets.
Lang has already trained three Inter Dominion trotting final winners with Sundons Gift (2009 and ’10) and Galleons Sunset (2008). He also had Let Me Thru run second in 2011, and Skyvalley finished third in 2010.
“I’ll be surprised if he’s not very competitive with the best (trotters) when the big races come around,” Lang said.
“We skipped the Inter Dominion with him last year even though it was in Melbourne, but he’s a year older and a lot more mature now.”
Lang also has two runners – Glamour Stride (gate six) and Satin Stride (nine) - the Shepparton Trotters’ Oaks on the same card.
Lang will drive Satin Stride, while young gun freelancer James Herbertson is aboard Satin Stride.
The Oaks sees the first of the runners for the powerhouse Kiwi stable of Mark and Nathan Purdon in their latest Aussie raid.
The exciting filly High Energy, who boasts six wins and a third from just seven starts, returns from a spell but will be favourite despite starting from outside the back row (gate 11).
· Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp.
