Comedy Lad not starting

Press, 6 December 1985, Page 28

Comedy Lad not starting

Special correspondent Auckland Comedy Lad won very easily at a matinee meeting at Alexandra Park on Thursday but he will not start in the main race at the Thames Trotting Club’s meeting there tomorrow night. • ‘ His owner, Mr Max Har-' vey, dearly wants to win the Thames Trotting Cup a week later. “I thought I had a great chance with' Ostrava a few years ago. But he finished only seventh,” Mr Harvey said from his hospital bed on Thursday. . Comedy Lad is on 20m in the Rolfe Memorial .on the opening night of the Thames •meeting and ’if he won he - would be reassessed to 30m. . “Obviously,” Mr Harvey • said, “he would have a better chance off 20.”

, Mr Harvey hopes, he wil be able to see the race but he is not very optimistic. , He expects to be able to , leave the Mater Hospital in a'day or so but he says he is “not very mobile” and is under orders to take things very quietly. Even though he gave

starts of up to 50m, Comedy Lad made short work of a pretty useful field in. the main event for pacers at - a trials meeting held, by the Auckland District Trials Association.

He was soon fairly handy in the running, and after cruising to the lead nearing the home turn he strode aWay to score by four lengths from a stablemte, Billbob. •Billbob, which is also owned by Mr Harvey, ran on strongly and, although drawn badly, he must have a good chance in the Hotel Imperial Pace tomorrow. Quassie battled on well for third.

The pace was slack most of the way but, off the front, the last 800 m was done in 58.9 s and 400 in 29.45. Indette, which,’like Comedy Lad and Billbob, is trained by Roy Purdon and his son Barry, was in her best form when she won the main trial for trotters. , Off 70m, she came with a great run and scored by a head from'a front marker, James Last. Mountain Peaks, also off the front, was a close third.