Hall of Fame - Unfinished Business

The Informant reports:

As the clear favourite for Saturday's Gr. 1 Randwick Meats Levin Classic at Trentham, Hall Of Fame has a couple of records that he will attempt to set straight.

The first of those is what happened in this $225,000 three-year-old feature 12 months ago. Hall Of Fame's Te Akau Racing went into the race with what appeared to be an unstoppable force, the eight-length New Zealand 2000 Guineas winner Xtravagant. But at odds of $1.30 he had his colours lowered, struggling in the shifty track conditions and battling home in fourth place in an uncharacteristically poor performance.

Hall Of Fame himself also has a point to prove at this level, having beaten just one runner home in this season's 2000 Guineas in November.

“I guess it's fair to say we've got a bit of unfinished business,” said Jamie Richards, who trains in partnership with Stephen Autridge.

“We didn't get the desired result with Xtravagant in this race last year, and we also know that Hall Of Fame is a much better horse than he showed at Riccarton. We're still scratching our heads over what happened down there.”

But Hall Of Fame returned to his powerful best at Ellerslie on Boxing Day, surging to a half-length victory in a strong three-year-old field.

“He ran really well at Ellerslie, it was much more like what we know he's capable of,” Richards said. “He wasn't fully screwed down for that race and he's improved a lot since then. Opie (Bosson) rode him this week and was really happy with how he felt. We couldn't be happier going into the race.”

Hall Of Fame is proven at the 1600-metre distance, having scored a dominant win in the Listed Zacinto Stakes in the spring. The Savabeel colt has drawn handily in gate one.