Harness Racing in Victoria has been dominated by the likes of Gavin Lang, Chris Alford, Kerryn Manning, Jodi Quinlan, Justice brothers, John Caldow, Brian Gath, etc for a long time now and thought it would be a good time to voice an opinion on the new breed of drivers coming through.
Like to keep these things positive so going to concentrate on 3 of the stars of the newer breed
Greg Sugars - I jumped on the wagon early and used to spend ages defending him a couple of years back when all and sundry wanted to bag him when a few "quite" drives went pear shaped. Can remember being shot down on the Betfair forum for stating that in time he could be the best driver I have seen. Strange that when I read it now that a few who were quick to bag me then are now spruiking him as a star. Thats another story but he has a special knack of making horses travel for him and his ability to judge speed is what sets him apart. Horses rarely pull when he drives them and he can also get lazy ones to travel on the bit, is the best driver going around currently bar none and has been for a while actually. If he was a jockey, his national profile would be enormous but he could walk into most pubtabs Australia wide and not be recognised.
Nathan Jack - either very good or very bad but gets unfairly maligned in my opinion as doesn't get it wrong too often, but there isn't much in between with Nathan though and punters tend to remember the bad ones. Reminds me very much of Brian Gath in that he is aggressive which can lead to some slaughter jobs but also results in wins on a few that shouldn't. Is also very good at getting horses out from the mobile or trailing through from the 2nd row (as evidenced by drive on Broadways Best in Vicbred final). I love backing leaders and therefore like Nathan as if it should lead, it will with Nathan driving it. Still makes a few errors when driving from behind but I watched him drive Rocknrolla last week and he cruised up outside the leaders at the 400 and he just sat there until the top of the straight before going for her knowing he had the leaders covered any time he wanted. Doubt he would have sat up until recently
David Moran - horses run for this young bloke and that is something you just cannot teach. Is also very well schooled or does a lot of form study as tends to finish up in the right place a lot of times (too many times to be coincidental). Still don't have a large sample to make a definitive opinion but from what I have seen, he is head and shoulders above any other claiming driver currently
