Matt Cameron aboard Volkstok’n’barrell
Trish Dunell
Matt Cameron is looking forward to his reunion with Volkstok'n'barrell on Saturday.
The leading rider will partner the top performer in the Gr.1 Rydges Wellington Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham, a race that has been weakened by the early defections of Rasa Lila and Hasselhoof.
Rasa Lila required surgery following a colic attack on Monday evening and Hasselhoof, a stablemate of Volkstok'n'barrell, has a minor foot injury.
Cameron won five races on Volkstok'n'barrell during the horse's three-year-old campaign, but he has not had a race ride on the horse since finishing second in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby in 2015.
The son of Tavistock has done most of his racing since then in Australia and conflicting commitments prevented Cameron riding the horse in his three starts in New Zealand last autumn.
"He's still a bit burly and will benefit from the run, but he's a class horse and I expect him to go a good race fresh," he said.
Volkstok'n'barrell, who is trained at Ruakaka by Donna Logan and Chris Gibbs, has not raced since June and a stone bruise forced him to miss a planned lead-up run at Tauranga this month.
"He's a hard horse to get a gauge on because he looks gross all the time, but he also looked fat when he won at Otaki and he seems to race well like that," Gibbs said.
Meanwhile, Hasselhoof's trip south was abandoned after he pulled a plate and stood on it overnight.
"It will definitely come right, but it could take a few days," Gibbs said.
"It's very frustrating because we had been really happy with him. We will have to find another race for him now and it might have put a run in the City Of Auckland Cup in doubt." – NZ Racing Desk.
The leading rider will partner the top performer in the Gr.1 Rydges Wellington Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham, a race that has been weakened by the early defections of Rasa Lila and Hasselhoof.
Rasa Lila required surgery following a colic attack on Monday evening and Hasselhoof, a stablemate of Volkstok'n'barrell, has a minor foot injury.
Cameron won five races on Volkstok'n'barrell during the horse's three-year-old campaign, but he has not had a race ride on the horse since finishing second in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby in 2015.
The son of Tavistock has done most of his racing since then in Australia and conflicting commitments prevented Cameron riding the horse in his three starts in New Zealand last autumn.
"He's still a bit burly and will benefit from the run, but he's a class horse and I expect him to go a good race fresh," he said.
Volkstok'n'barrell, who is trained at Ruakaka by Donna Logan and Chris Gibbs, has not raced since June and a stone bruise forced him to miss a planned lead-up run at Tauranga this month.
"He's a hard horse to get a gauge on because he looks gross all the time, but he also looked fat when he won at Otaki and he seems to race well like that," Gibbs said.
Meanwhile, Hasselhoof's trip south was abandoned after he pulled a plate and stood on it overnight.
"It will definitely come right, but it could take a few days," Gibbs said.
"It's very frustrating because we had been really happy with him. We will have to find another race for him now and it might have put a run in the City Of Auckland Cup in doubt." – NZ Racing Desk.