Racing: Frenchman set to sizzle

Trainer Todd Harvey will be looking for in-form gelding Frenchman to extend his winning run to four in tomorrow’s $50,000 South West Summer Sizzle (1200m) at the Bunbury Turf Club.

The four-year-old has begun a new campaign with a hat-trick of wins and was most recently victorious in the $40,000 Assured Ascot Quays Handicap (1200m) at Perth’s Ascot Racecourse earlier this month.

Harvey said that his galloper, who will drop one kilo from his last start to carry a weight of 55.5kg tomorrow, could hardly enter the feature in better form.

‘‘He’s going on really well, he hasn’t put a foot wrong this time in,’’ Harvey said.

‘‘He looks really well suited; he drops in weight and he’s drawn a perfect barrier in two. It looks like a really nice race for him.

‘‘He should be very hard to beat.’’

The current string of wins signals a successful return to racing for Frenchman, who went down in the barriers during the second start of his last campaign in June 2010.

That day, he was injured after bursting through the gate early at Belmont Park.

‘‘It took us quite a while to get his back and neck right after that,’’ Harvey said.

‘‘He’s had quite a lot of chiropractic work, and it seems to have helped him a lot.

‘‘He’s always had a lot of ability but he’s had some physical problems along the way.’’

Frenchman will have leading Perth jockey Clint Harvey on board for the race, but can expect tough competition from the Neville Parnham-trained Leanonus and local challenger Army Miss.

Since breaking his maiden status in September last year, Leanonus has been a picture of consistency, taking seven places from eight starts, while Brent Larsson’s dominant five-year-old mare Army Miss has performed steadily in recent times as well.

Army Miss has also recorded seven places from her last eight outings, including a trio of wins at Bunbury.