Harjeet continued to draw comparisons with the great Beautide after his effortless win in the $40,000 Raider Stakes final in Devonport on Friday night.
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The star four-year-old led from the pole and, after getting a leisurely time for most of the race, scooted over the last 800m in 56.9 seconds to score by 26m from Usain Jolt with Sea Double Ugrant 6m away third.
The Todd Rattray-trained and driven gelding paid money-back $1 on the Ubet tote and closed at $1.04 in the fixed-odds market.
With 12 wins from 16 starts, Harjeet boasts the same strike-rate at this stage of his career as Beautide who went on to win two Inter-Dominions and a Miracle Mile.
Beautide was bred and raced by the Longford-based Rattray Family Trust which also owns Harjeet in partnership with Branxholm harness stalwart Wayne McLaughlin, a co-breeder.
McLaughlin has raced some good horses but said having bred Harjeet made his wins “more special.”
The part-owner said he was unsure what the rest of the season had in store for the gelding.
“He’ll either go for a spell or we’ll send him to Victoria for next month’s Vicbred races,” McLaughlin said.
“We’ll discuss it before making a decision.
“Personally, I think he’s done a good job already and it might be time for a bit of a break.”
MYSTERY SOLVED
As far as a contest was concerned, the $40,000 Granny Smith final was a stark contrast to the Raider Stakes.
Only a nose separated winner El Jays Mystery and runner-up Resurgent Dream after a titanic battle up the home straight.
Kaliska Leis was 4m away third.
El Jays Mystery was given a gun run, one-out and one-back, by Rohan Hillier, while Resurgent Dream settled outside the leader but pulled so hard that Ricky Duggan eventually let her roll to the front.
Tammy Grant, one of El Jays Mystery’s 10 owners, said the win was a reward for the hard work of her father, Karoola trainer Dick Eaves.
“She’s had a few hiccups with her gait and hasn’t been easy to train,” Grant said.
“It’s taken time but, with the help of a great driver, she’s got there.”
OVER POWERED
The well-named Overpowering made a successful hit-and-run visit from Victoria to win the $12,000 Max McCormack.
Trained at Cranbourne by Michael Hughes, Overpowering is part-owned by former Tasmanian Marc Panton.
Panton won the same race in 2016 with Denza Doozy who was trained and driven by Rohan Hillier.
He called on Hillier’s driving services again on Overpowering who worked to the death early before proving too strong for the leader Cardinal Coffee.
