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The Kiwi grip on the Caulfield Cup might be further tightened this week when Gingernuts has his final race at Hastings before heading to Melbourne.
New Zealand Oaks winner Bonneval was elevated to Caulfield Cup favouritism following her Underwood Stakes win at Caulfield on Sunday but this week it is the New Zealand Derby winner that gets to stake his Melbourne claims when he runs as hot favourite in a 2000-metre Group 1, the Livamol Classic.
Co-trainer Jamie Richards said on Monday that it was difficult not to be impressed with Bonneval’s progression from her three-year-old season, but he warned Gingernuts had plenty to offer as well.
‘’She looks to be a very special mare so we know our bloke needs to be on top of his game to be matching it with her,’’ Richards said of Bonneval.
‘’But we are happy with where our horse is at. He’s confident at the moment and he’s looking good and obviously won his last start.
‘’We are under no illusions as to the task that he’s got to perform if he’s going to beat these sort of horses in a Caulfield Cup but we’ll know more after Saturday as to how we are going.
‘’They’ve never raced against each other and Bonneval as a three-year-old only raced against her own sex, but it looks like she’s gone to another level as a four-year-old.’’
Gingernuts won the NZ Derby and the Rosehill Guineas but his campaign came to an end when he was unplaced in the ATC Derby before a spell.
Gingernuts is coming off a decisive win over 1600 metres in the group 1 Windsor Park Stakes at Hastings and Richards said the horse will be well fancied as he steps to 2000 metres.
‘’He’ll be a pretty dominant favourite and so hopefully he can run up to his last start and to be competitive with the likes of Bonneval and Humidor he’s going to have to be right at his peak,’’ Richards said.
‘’He’ll have his final piece of work in the morning but we’re very happy with him at this stage.
‘’If he runs well, he’s on the plane and he’ll run in the Caulfield Cup at this stage and that is the main target for him. If he makes it to the Caulfield Cup, Opie Bosson will ride him.
‘’He holds a nomination for everything so at this stage we’ll let him tell us what he wants to do.’’ -racing.com