Bismarck Du Plessis beats the pack

Bruce Stewart Contributor

They were wide across the track from one another and they battled it out, but the Tony Stratford trained Bismarck Du Plessis (Always B Miki) came late to beat Wehavtime at the Wyndham Harness Racing Club’s meeting at Cromwell today.

Driven by Blair Orange the winning margin was three quarters of a length, with the win a first for Bismarck Du Plessis.

“He went super really. To be fair I thought our first starter Imperial Laz would be too good for him. Blair was happy with him on Friday and even happier with him today, so the horse is clearly heading in the right direction,” Stratford said.

Named after the Springbok hooker Bismarck Du Plessis the three year old is owned by Dean Lawrence who also bred him. Lawrence owned a farm in Clydevale before relocating to Cromwell where he runs an insulation business.

“I actually went to school with him (Du Plessis) and he’s had a few horses with ups like Sweet Lizzie.”

Bismarck Du Plessis commenced his racing career with Rakauhauka trainer Clark Barron who took him to six workouts and a qualifying trial. He qualified at Winton in May last year.

“We got him off Clarkie and he hasn’t been easy. He’s done all the hard work. On the track he’s beautiful but he’s difficult on the ground. There’s potential there to be quite a nice horse.”