Double Time’s northern sojourn heads to Auckland
Garrick Knight - Raceform • January 29th, 2026 3:07 PM • 4 min read
Famous for his meticulous planning of northern raids, Michael House is usually thinking a few steps ahead when it comes to placing his large band of horses.
But having Double Time racing in Auckland on Friday night is not something even he could foresee.
House has had the horse in his care for only a couple of weeks and admits he hasn’t even trained the nine-race winner.
“The owner, Peter Fitzgerald, has had a few horses with me in the past, the most recent being Avenger,” said House.
“He has shares in all sorts of horses and that includes Double Time, who was with the Dunns at Woodend Beach.
“I don’t know what transpired, but he bought out his partners and rung Mark Jones to train it. Mark agreed and took half the horse as part of the agreement.
“I think it had one start for Mark, and then on the Sunday before nominations closed for the Kapiti meeting at Hawera, he rung me and said, ‘I’ve found the perfect race for this horse. I’m dropping him off to you in the morning.’
“I said I’d only take it if it was in my name, and he agreed.”
Kapiti’s meeting was abandoned, but Double Time then won the Hawera Cup a few days later.
“Not a bad effort from me, training the Hawera Cup winner without ever driving the horse,” House joked.
His northern team went on to race at Taupo on Monday, but most of them are now back in Christchurch for a reset.
“Shezabettorgirl couldn’t get in at Taupo, but there was an ideal fillies and mares’ race for her at Alexandra Park so I decided to leave her up there for that.
“Then I noticed an up to rating 70 pace which suits Double Time perfectly as he’s a 67, so I rung Peter and said, ‘Do you want to keep the money train going?’ He said let’s do it, and here we are.
“As it turned out, Shezabettorgirl’s race got canned and she’s been put in the main race with Double Time.”
The $17,000 Zachary Butcher ATC’s 2025 Leading Driver Pace (Race 6) is a mobile, meaning Double Time gets a significant leg-up as the highest-rated horse in the race.
“On paper he should go pretty close. His run at Taupo was good behind American Me and he’s raced in a better class than this for most of his life.
“Shezabettorgirl is racing out of her grade, but she loves the travelling and has no fears going the other way as she raced there on New Years’ Eve. In fact, she paces better that way.”
House has a big team in at Addington on Friday night and a trio at Oamaru on Sunday.
“Route Sixty Six should go a little bit better at Addington and Ask Me Lazarus is drawn to get a good run at Oamaru. Both are each-way chances.”
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