7Queensland Winter Harness Racing Carnival will heat up when a vast quality of interstate and New Zealand three-year-olds converge on Queensland to stake their claim in the Picket Fence Bonuses worth $111,000.

The ground-breaking Picket Fence promotion offers trainers and owners the chance to win a share of $111,000 in bonuses if their horse can win three races in a row in Queensland including one of four feature races on Blacks A Fake Night on 16 July.

The upcoming three-year-old features including the Gold Coast and Queensland Oaks and Derby will be hotly contested, with quality horses like Kimani, Charlaval and Nek Time looking to secure two victories in the lead-up to the Blacks A Fake finals night at Albion on July 16.

Nek Time, who will be targeting the Gold Coast Oaks this Saturday is one of the leading contenders for Picket Fence Bonuses, having come back from a spell in March and performing well.

The three-year-old filly has won four of her last eight starts in New Zealand, setting a national record in the G2

Southland Oaks by a widening margin at Invercargill back in April.

The Terry and Glenys Chmiel-trained filly arrived in Australia just under two weeks ago and is settling in well, staying at Ian Gurney’s property and being looked after by Nathan Purdon.

“She’s been doing really well since she’s been there, she’s as bright as a button and it’s a nice property up there so she’s settling in well,” said Chmiel.

While all is going well, Chmiel said the three-year-old filly can be quite temperamental and likes being the boss in any given situation.

“She’s temperamental, she’s a one-person filly and she quite likes the wife,”

“She’s pretty competitive on and off the track and likes to be in charge, in the last few months she’s really developed and grown into herself, she’s developed into a nice three-year-old,” said Chmiel.

Chmiel is happy with Nek Time’s form since arriving in Queensland, last Friday’s trial over 1660 meters at Albion being covered comfortably in a time of 1:55.2.

“We were pretty happy with the way she trailed the other night and she’s drawn well for Saturday (Fr2), hopefully we can lead from the front.”

Other three-year-olds to watch out for include locals Catcha Lefty, Leos Best, Mattgregor and Son Of Mara.

Leos Best is enjoying a good run, winning five of his last nine starts, including his last start, the Rising Stars C3/C4 Final at Albion Park on June 18.

Catcha Lefty narrowly missed out on a second Picket at Albion Park last start in the Rising Stars C1/C2 Final on June 25, coming in third.

Son Of Mara is a strong Queensland horse who has already earned himself a Picket, but the New Zealand and interstate rivalry is tough, and with the likes of Living Again and Roarn already having earnt a Picket as well, many more local and visiting horses will be working hard to open their campaigns with a win in the near future.

Albion Park will have a 10 race card including four feature races this Saturday night.

With a total prize money pool of $171,000 the four feature races are the Garrards Gold Coast Oaks for three-year-old fillies, the Horsepower Four-year-old Championship, the Garrards Premiers Cup and the Mr Feelgood Open Pace.

Racing starts at 5.12pm.

Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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Dean Baring