In a unique partnership the Essendon Football Club has joined forces with Harness Racing Victoria to form the “Bombers Harness Syndicate”, an initiative that sees the Club’s two social venues, the Melton Country Club and Windy Hill, lease and race two young pacers throughout their 2, 3 & 4 year old careers.
Importantly for Essendon Football Club members it’s FREE to be involved as the Syndicate aims to encourage a closer relationship between two of Australia’s most progressive sporting bodies, offering cross promotional opportunities and importantly giving members, the thrill of owning their very own harness horse.
So, while evergreen Bomber’s coach Kevin Sheedy is putting champions such as Mercuri, Hird and Fletcher through their paces, leading Victorian Harness Trainers Jayne Davies and Bruce Morgan have been setting stringent training regimes for Bomber harness recruits Windyhillbomber (owned by Windy Hill social club) and Bomber Dazzler (owned by Melton Country Club) respectively.
And after months of anticipation the Bombers Harness Syndicate are set to unveil their first runner this Friday afternoon, 26 April, at Kilmore when the Jayne Davies-trained Windyhillbomber debuts with champion reinsman Chris Alford in the sulky in a 2A0/2A1 Pace.
There is an air of confidence in the camp after the striking black colt drew ideally in barrier 4 (race 1 at 12:40), this, on the back of some impressive trial form in recent weeks. Windyhillbomber qualified to race at Warragul on 7 April finishing second against open age pacers in a standing start trial, before proving too slick for 2YO company at Geelong on Monday night, 15 April, in the quickest mile rate of the night.
Jayne Davies has always held high hopes for the colt, especially on his breeding and conformation, but it's only really been in the past month since his training has stepped up that he's really started to show his true ability. “He paces beautifully and his natural speed is now starting to shine through” Davies explained.
Essendon Football Club, Windy Hill Social Club and Melton Country Club members will all be admitted FREE to the Kilmore meeting on presentation of their memberships cards.
Bomber Dazzler has returned to trainer Bruce Morgan's Bendigo property after a lengthy spell and has been doing jog work for the past month. She'll step up her campaign shortly en route to hopefully a June / July racetrack debut.
To find out more about the syndicate, the horses, trainers, drivers and the latest news click on the following linkhttp://www.harness.org.au/vic/EssendonFC/EssendonHome1.htm or go to the Victorian Homepage and hit the Bombers Harness Racing icon.
