Trish Dunell
While focusing on current stable star Close Up, Cambridge trainer Shelley Hale has his brother, Group Two winner Seventh Up, quietly ticking over in the background.
Seventh Up has been off the scene since finishing a close second at Te Rapa last May, one outing after his claim to fame when winning the Gr.2 Manco Easter Stakes (1600m) at Ellerslie.
“He’s been back in work for a while and I’m just taking him along quietly,” Hale said. “I was thinking of running him here in the trials but they were called off. There’s no pressure as the autumn is what we’re really looking at.
“I’ll find somewhere to slot him in. Maybe he could get to Rotorua for the weight-for-age sprint. Later on there’s the Rich Hill Mile then the Thorndon Mile, but we’ll just take it quietly and see how he comes up.”
Hale is pleased with Close Up going into Saturday’s Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m).
“Touch wood, everything is going as good as it was before the first two races at Hastings,” Hale said, referring to the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) and Gr.1 Windsor Park Plate (1600m) in which Close Up ran first and second respectively.