Close Up
Trish Dunell
Shelley Hale's stable fortunes are on the up.
The Cambridge trainer produced her first runner for the season at Counties on Sunday and welcomed Seventh Up back to the winner's stall.
At Ellerslie on Saturday, Hale will produced two more runners from her small team - Close Up in the Ray White City Realty 1200 and Go Nicholas in the Ventell Limited 1200.
Close Up hasn't raced since he was unplaced at Ellerslie on Boxing Day but goes into the open sprint with two conditioning trials for a fourth placing at Cambridge and a Te Awamutu win five days later.
"He's a bit hard to get a lot of work into and that's why we gave him a couple of trials pretty close together," Hale said.
"There was certainly nothing wrong with his trials and the work we've done with him has been good, so all the indicators are positive.
"He's not as forward as Seventh Up but he's a horse with plenty of talent and he loves Ellerslie. Mark [Du Plessis] rode him at the trials and he wanted to stay with him, which is a good sign."
Close Up has won six of his 18 starts and could earn himself a start in the Gr.3 Lion Red Plate (1200m) at Rotorua on October 15 with a bold showing on Saturday.
"He needs give in the ground so we'll be restricted to spring racing, then we'll ease up on him over summer and get him going again for the autumn," Hale said.
"We just take him race by race. There's no major issue but he feels his joints so we just have to look after him."
Hale has the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie on New Year's Day as the long-term aim for Seventh Up, who registered his fourth win in nine starts at Counties, though he holds a nomination for the Gr.2 Coupland's Bakeries Mile at Riccarton on November 9 and could press for a start there with a win in a Rating 85 1400m race at Hawera on October 8.
"He's a handy horse. I've always had a good opinion of him and it's all coming together for him now."
Hale said she was expecting Go Nicholas, a winner of three of his six starts, to race well at Ellerslie despite drawing the outside draw of 15.
"He's done plenty of work and it's all been up to scratch," Hale said. - NZ Racing Desk
The Cambridge trainer produced her first runner for the season at Counties on Sunday and welcomed Seventh Up back to the winner's stall.
At Ellerslie on Saturday, Hale will produced two more runners from her small team - Close Up in the Ray White City Realty 1200 and Go Nicholas in the Ventell Limited 1200.
Close Up hasn't raced since he was unplaced at Ellerslie on Boxing Day but goes into the open sprint with two conditioning trials for a fourth placing at Cambridge and a Te Awamutu win five days later.
"He's a bit hard to get a lot of work into and that's why we gave him a couple of trials pretty close together," Hale said.
"There was certainly nothing wrong with his trials and the work we've done with him has been good, so all the indicators are positive.
"He's not as forward as Seventh Up but he's a horse with plenty of talent and he loves Ellerslie. Mark [Du Plessis] rode him at the trials and he wanted to stay with him, which is a good sign."
Close Up has won six of his 18 starts and could earn himself a start in the Gr.3 Lion Red Plate (1200m) at Rotorua on October 15 with a bold showing on Saturday.
"He needs give in the ground so we'll be restricted to spring racing, then we'll ease up on him over summer and get him going again for the autumn," Hale said.
"We just take him race by race. There's no major issue but he feels his joints so we just have to look after him."
Hale has the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie on New Year's Day as the long-term aim for Seventh Up, who registered his fourth win in nine starts at Counties, though he holds a nomination for the Gr.2 Coupland's Bakeries Mile at Riccarton on November 9 and could press for a start there with a win in a Rating 85 1400m race at Hawera on October 8.
"He's a handy horse. I've always had a good opinion of him and it's all coming together for him now."
Hale said she was expecting Go Nicholas, a winner of three of his six starts, to race well at Ellerslie despite drawing the outside draw of 15.
"He's done plenty of work and it's all been up to scratch," Hale said. - NZ Racing Desk