Ross North Homes 4yo Championship, Gloucester Park, Friday

Friday night at Gloucester Park promises to be a thrilling one as the $50, 000 4yo Championship is bound to throw up a really decent individual.

There are several with chances in the harness racing betting odds and on paper this looks very competitive. One who comes here with a big chance is Dasher VC for the R A Olivieri stable. The horse was a winner last time out and reflecting on that performance did it well in the circumstances (didn’t get the best of runs) and, granted a clearer passage here, is fancied to go close. Olivieri also has Crombie drawn further out, although the horse was beaten fair and square last time out and he will need to raise his game to be of interest here.

Motu Crusader for the McCarthey combination is another who comes here in fine heart and will almost certainly be there or thereabouts when the harness racing results come in. The Queensland Derby runner-up from back in the summer will have to improve ever so slightly, but is a very lightly raced 4yo with stacks of potential improvement.

Grant Williams brings Cromac Johnny into the mix from a blinding draw on G1. The only worry with this horse is that, despite the fact he has clocked some of the best recent times on offer and he has been a prolific winner this season, come the big night in a big race each time he has failed to deliver.

It is an intriguing contest and you wouldn’t be surprised if any one of five or six won. We will take a chance on Cromac Johnny in the hope that tonight will be the night. It is hard to imagine that it is the atmosphere on a big night that he seems to dislike and, despite the alarming stat that his big race-record is nothing special, is taken to put that right here. If he doesn’t, Dasher VC could well be the one.