Author: Thorotek

We welcomed a new horse this week when Manzoni arrived. He was purchased from the Inglis Digital Auction and comes from the Godolphin yard. He is a three year old gelding by Street Boss who is a maiden with four career starts. He has been spelling so he will start his prep from scratch with three to four weeks of cantering and is aiming to start racing for Thorotek at the Moruya meeting in February.

A team of six runners made the trip to Sapphire Coast and we picked up three thirds on the day.

Blackhill Kitty had her final run for our stable, this time over 1200m. She was probably ready for the paddock but she ran a good race to finish the prep. She jumped brilliantly and took up the lead but drifted off the fence as she cornered, allowing the eventual winner and second place getter to slip up the inside. She fought hard to the line to finish off the prep with two consecutive placings.

Rogue Lune made his career debut in the 1000m maiden. He had an impressive barrier trial in the lead up and although he is still learning, he looks to have good ability. He was a lot more nervous and excited than at the barrier trial but he still coped well with the whole day. He had the widest barrier, which can be a real task from the 1000m chute at Sapphire. He was wide throughout but the instructions were to keep him balanced and not to break his momentum because he is a big horse who is still learning. He made a huge run in the straight nearly nabbing second on the line.

Reliable Jauhera picked up her fourth 3rd placing in a row having dropped back to 1600m this start. With no suitable 2000m races for her this fortnight, she had to return to the 1600m and under Jess Taylor, she ran another solid race. She is so fit, she always pulls up like she hasn’t even gone around and her relaxed racing style suits the longer distance racing.

Our stable star, Kattegat, returned to the races at Kembla Grange in the BM64 over 1000m. He had to carry 62kg which meant Robbie Brewer could ride him without lead. He ran a super race to finish 2nd, making up significant ground in the straight, even with the heavy weight. The GPS tracker showed he ran the final 600m in 32.56 seconds, an exceptionally quick time.

Kattegat went for a spell following his Forbes run in August in order to prepare for a summer campaign which includes the Narooma Town Plate in December and the Moruya Town Plate in January. He returned from the paddock the heaviest he has ever been and looks to be fully mature in his body now he is six years old. His first up run at Kembla looks like he is in for a good preparation to come.

Tornac claimed his second career victory in an actioned packed race at Wagga. Tornac only recently recovered from an accident on the float which left him with three less front teeth so it was especially pleasing to see him back to some good form.

It was only his second start up over the 1800m distance following a 3rd placing at Bathurst over the trip earlier this prep. He was ridden by Robyn Freeman who has developed an special knack for getting the best out of Tornac.

Tornac took up a mid-field position and was rounding the turn when a fall occurred in front of him. He dodged the fallen rider and made his run down the outside of the field, snatching the win on the line.

Blackhill Kitty was due to race at the non-TAB meeting at Adaminaby in November but the weather led to the meeting being abandoned and a new non-TAB meeting being scheduled at Sapphire Coast. The race looked the right grade and distance for her and the track was Good 4 which is her preferred surface. She started favourite in the small field with apprentice Ruby Haylock on board. Kitty jumped well but struck severe interference at the 600m when another runner crossed too close in front of her. This put her off balance around the turn but she dug deep in the straight to finish 2nd.

Blackhill Kitty will have her final race for our stable at the Sapphire Coast meeting on the 28th of November before her lease expires.

Dragons Breath became yet another success story for the beach training when he resumed at Canberra and finished a close 2nd. Dragons Breath had completely lost his mojo last prep so he went to the paddock after only one start. When he returned this preparation, he did all his early training at the beach. He doesn’t enjoy trackwork, preferring to be worked in the bush or on the beach so we are able to get him fit but also keep him happy by keeping his trackwork to the bare minimum.

Jauhera ran another good race, this time up over 2000m. She finished off great after taking some time to find a run at the top of the straight and ran into 3rd place.

Following massive flooding in Gundagai with more than half the racecourse inundated, we never thought we would be running at Snake Gully Cup but the jockey club was able to repair the track on time and we had Napoleon Solo in the Cup and Tornac in the C1 1400m.

Tornac was coming back from an injury to his mouth which meant he was coming off a longer break between runs than we usually give him. He was slow to muster and settled covered up on the fence, which he doesn’t really like, but he finished off great in the straight.

Napoleon Solo ran a cracking race in the Snake Gully Cup. He jumped super and was forward and determined the whole way, finishing 4th. The track at Gundagai is very tricky with the dog leg in the straight throwing off a lot of horses and Napoleon did get a bit unbalanced as he came through that section but he put in an excellent effort for one of his best runs since joining our stables.

Jauhera added another 3rd place to her record in the 1600m at Sapphire Coast. This good result is following her 3rd at Nowra last start. She is getting along with jockey Jess Taylor great and really finishing off her races under her. Jess is also able to get her to jump better and sit closer at the start.

Jauhera is a lovely mare who settles beautifully and will get over more distance because of her calm racing pattern. She is very fit now and does very little work at home to keep her super fresh which helps to get the best out of her on race day. She will step up distance next race start.

Constantinou also ran a very good race on the day. She had a wide gate which resulted in a difficult run but she finished off excellently, beaten less than a length. She was first up from a spell and only one jumpout so she will get a lot of fitness out of the run.

Rouge Lune had his first barrier trial after the races and was very impressive. We are looking forward to racing him later this month.