Leading trotting stable praying for good manners in Group One trot
Matt Markham - Raceform • November 13th, 2025 2:21 PM
Group One opportunities for the baby trotters don’t come along too often, so Bernie Hackett and Michelle Wallis are hoping to make the most of one at Addington on Friday. One of New Zealand’s leading trotting stables, the Waiuku Beach combination didn’t start a runner on Cup Day on Tuesday, but have three strong hopes on Show Day including promising youngster Save A Prayer in the IRT Sires’ Stakes Series No.42 2YO Trot worth $120,000.
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Sent down early to get a feel for the Addington surface, the son of Pastor Stephen didn’t quite get it right in his South Island debut last week with a couple of gallops, but there were enough encouraging signs to suggest he’s a player with manners this week.
“He was always going to be better for having had that wee look around the track and going the other way around,” co-trainer Hackett told RaceForm.
“It’s a shame he got it wrong there a couple of times, but we did like what we saw when he was trotting and it at least gave us something to work with.”
After beginning well last week, Save A Prayer rolled into a gallop after 100 metres and gave both Petite Armour and Chocta – race rivals this week – a big head start. He managed to catch back on to the pair with 600 metres to run, but galloped again late up the straight and was subsequently disqualified for galloping for too long.
It’s hardly encouraging stuff leading into a Group One, but even Hackett admitted the effort to catch back up to the leading pair showed they’re not just down here to make up the numbers if the manners can come to the party on Friday.
“It did tell us we had a horse capable of being competitive, but with a little bit to sort out.
“Michelle has placed him on the unruly to try and help get him into a better rhythm early and hopefully that will help. It’s only a small field this week again, so even from out there he’s not going to be too far off them at any point if he does stay down.”
Based out on the beach at Woodend while down here, Hackett arrived on Monday night to oversee the lead-up to Friday. A chance to take Save A Prayer for a jog on Tuesday gave him a good feel of things.
“He felt nice and sharp and he’s enjoying it down here, so we’re headed in the right direction.
“At the end of the day, a trip like this for a young horse is really going to make him in the long run I think, he’s just going to be so much better for it.”
Save A Prayer is looking to become the third member of his family to win the two-year-old feature, following on from both High Gait and her daughter High Energy, both previous winners for Mark Purdon. The Hackett and Wallis combination will also step out promising three-year-old filly Illicit Love, who they have a lot of time for, and Courmayeur, who brings some strong form south from recent Auckland racing. “Courmayeur is another one who is going to benefit from the trip, I think. She’s going well but other than coming over to us from Australia, she hasn’t travelled a lot. She’s got ability and is capable of running a pretty big race on Friday.”
Illicit Love will press forward to next Friday night’s New Zealand Trotting Oaks with her high speed putting her right in contention.
The trio will be driven by Wallis and Hackett’s daughter Crystal, who produced a herculean effort on Better Knuckle Up to finish fourth in Tuesday’s IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup. CLICK HERE to subscribe to RaceForm and get your copy delivered each week.
