Salamanca
Race Images Palmerston North
A return trip to the New Zealand Cup Carnival in November is the long term aim for consistent sprinter Salamanca after the six-year-old returned to winning form at Wanganui on the weekend.
In a gritty display the Alamosa gelding displayed all his fighting qualities to hold out his rivals in a blanket finish to the Coro Angel Syndicate sponsored open 1200 metre contest and register his eighth win from just 27 starts.
The victory came off the back of a disappointing run in the Listed Opunake Cup back in July however trainer Mike Breslin was prepared to forgive the effort that day after the gelding pulled up with a muscle issue.
"The run at New Plymouth was totally out character for him as he is such an honest horse who tries his best every time he steps out," he explained.
"When he pulled up that day he was a little sore on cooling down so we thought he might have slipped when he jumped out of the barrier and tweaked a muscle or two. We gave him a couple of weeks off with plenty of work on the massage machine and he seemed to come right after that."
A pleasing performance during a jumpout last week had Breslin confident of a good performance on the weekend.
"He went nicely in a jumpout so I thought I had him somewhere near his best for Saturday," he said.
"The weight relief he got with Danielle (Hirini) riding him also played its part as he had to work pretty hard to cross them early on however she rated him nicely after that and he fought strongly to the line."
Breslin is now eyeing up a $40,000 sprint at Ellerslie in three weeks as the geldings next target with a tilt at the Gr. 3 Lindauer Stewards Stakes on the middle day of Riccarton's New Zealand Cup Carnival a distinct possibility.
"There are several options for him coming up but I think the race at Ellerslie is where we will go next," he noted.
"Longer term I'd like to take him south for a crack at the Stewards provided the tracks retain some moisture in them.
"He went a beauty on the first day last year on a track that was a little too firm for him but didn't back up well in the Stewards after that. This time I think we would go into the race fresh as long as we can get the weather to play in our favour." – NZ Racing Desk
In a gritty display the Alamosa gelding displayed all his fighting qualities to hold out his rivals in a blanket finish to the Coro Angel Syndicate sponsored open 1200 metre contest and register his eighth win from just 27 starts.
The victory came off the back of a disappointing run in the Listed Opunake Cup back in July however trainer Mike Breslin was prepared to forgive the effort that day after the gelding pulled up with a muscle issue.
"The run at New Plymouth was totally out character for him as he is such an honest horse who tries his best every time he steps out," he explained.
"When he pulled up that day he was a little sore on cooling down so we thought he might have slipped when he jumped out of the barrier and tweaked a muscle or two. We gave him a couple of weeks off with plenty of work on the massage machine and he seemed to come right after that."
A pleasing performance during a jumpout last week had Breslin confident of a good performance on the weekend.
"He went nicely in a jumpout so I thought I had him somewhere near his best for Saturday," he said.
"The weight relief he got with Danielle (Hirini) riding him also played its part as he had to work pretty hard to cross them early on however she rated him nicely after that and he fought strongly to the line."
Breslin is now eyeing up a $40,000 sprint at Ellerslie in three weeks as the geldings next target with a tilt at the Gr. 3 Lindauer Stewards Stakes on the middle day of Riccarton's New Zealand Cup Carnival a distinct possibility.
"There are several options for him coming up but I think the race at Ellerslie is where we will go next," he noted.
"Longer term I'd like to take him south for a crack at the Stewards provided the tracks retain some moisture in them.
"He went a beauty on the first day last year on a track that was a little too firm for him but didn't back up well in the Stewards after that. This time I think we would go into the race fresh as long as we can get the weather to play in our favour." – NZ Racing Desk