The Smithawards New Season Two Year Old Pace (1609m) in Hobart on Sunday night will be the first two-year-old race in the island state for the 2025 season.
Two of the seven final acceptors have recorded trial victories, including the Craig Hayes-trained Port Run Machine.
Port Run Machine won his only trial at Carrick Park on 21 February, where he won by 7.4m in a mile rate of 2:01.2s for the 1670m trip, where he led all the way.
“I like him. He has been a good horse to do anything with all the way through,” said Hayes.
“I broke him in when he was eight or nine months, and when we put him in the cart, he just went.
“He has never broken in his life, and he is an easy horse to do anything with.”
Port Run Machine has drawn barrier four, with the trainer expecting a forward showing.
“I don’t know the opposition well, but he will take plenty of beating.
The gelded son of Poster Boy is out of a horse Hayes trained, Sportswriter mare Jeanette Barry.
“I tried to get her back in foal to Poster Boy this year, given what this horse was doing, but unfortunately, she slipped.
As for the name, Hayes said most of the owners will claim that he is named after them.
“The Stowport Cricket Club is called Port, and most of the owners in him play cricket there, and everyone of them thinks the horse is named after them.
Hayes will be chasing a weekend double after Hazewillrev won the Besser Engineering Sweepstakes (2180m) in Burnie on Friday night, with Gareth Rattray partnering the pacer to victory in track record time, with the amended mile rate being 2:00.1s.
“He has been going well, but nothing has been going right.
“He had a puncture the start before last, and I had probably been a bit easy on him the start before that. But, he had been working well here.”
Hayes indicated the pacer would head to next week’s Carrick Park Pacing Cup before a short let-up.
