El Pistola
Trish Dunell
A plan that was formulated just on twelve months ago will come to fruition this Saturday as rugged stayer El Pistola takes her place in the Gr. 1 Barfoot & Thomson Auckland Cup (3200m) at Ellerslie.
The final piece of the jigsaw puzzle fell into place on the weekend when the five-year-old mare downed a number of Cup hopefuls in the Barneswood Farm sponsored Nathans Memorial, the traditional lead-up event to the Auckland Racing Club's two mile feature.
Trainer Nathan Hanley, who prepares the El Hermano mare with partner Kylie Whiting, admitted he had always fancied his charge would be a two mile contender from the moment she entered their stable.
"She is bred to be a stayer and from day one that is how she has performed," he explained.
"We knew she would take time to mature and we had to be patient with her. I can tell you that patience was severely tested when she virtually ran last at her first five starts!"
Hanley didn't despair and the mare delivered on the faith he had placed in her when scoring over 2000 metres at Matamata in March last year.
"When she won that day we sat down and tried to work out how we could get her to Cup day at Ellerslie," he said.
"I knew then another year on her would see her at her peak so everything we have done has been designed with this coming weekend in mind."
Hanley admitted he thought he made a mistake when choosing to forego a run in the Gr. 3 City Of Auckland Cup on New Year's Day in preference to the Dunstan Feeds Championship Final that day.
"I wasn't sure if she would get a run in the City Of Auckland Cup so we went for the Dunstan instead," he disclosed.
"The first three home in the City Of Auckland Cup automatically get an Auckland Cup start and I think we could have done that but we chose a certain run in the Dunstan to try and win that to qualify instead.
"Finishing third that day has meant we have had to tread a different path to get her rating up which has seen a couple of setbacks put us on the back foot a little.
"Saturday was our last shot but I was confident she had taken the necessary improvement from her run at Matamata and that was how it worked out."
Hanley will now follow the mare's familiar routine this week as he and Whiting prepare for their first runner in a Group One contest although he admitted the nerves would begin to jangle as raceday drew closer. – NZ Racing Desk
The final piece of the jigsaw puzzle fell into place on the weekend when the five-year-old mare downed a number of Cup hopefuls in the Barneswood Farm sponsored Nathans Memorial, the traditional lead-up event to the Auckland Racing Club's two mile feature.
Trainer Nathan Hanley, who prepares the El Hermano mare with partner Kylie Whiting, admitted he had always fancied his charge would be a two mile contender from the moment she entered their stable.
"She is bred to be a stayer and from day one that is how she has performed," he explained.
"We knew she would take time to mature and we had to be patient with her. I can tell you that patience was severely tested when she virtually ran last at her first five starts!"
Hanley didn't despair and the mare delivered on the faith he had placed in her when scoring over 2000 metres at Matamata in March last year.
"When she won that day we sat down and tried to work out how we could get her to Cup day at Ellerslie," he said.
"I knew then another year on her would see her at her peak so everything we have done has been designed with this coming weekend in mind."
Hanley admitted he thought he made a mistake when choosing to forego a run in the Gr. 3 City Of Auckland Cup on New Year's Day in preference to the Dunstan Feeds Championship Final that day.
"I wasn't sure if she would get a run in the City Of Auckland Cup so we went for the Dunstan instead," he disclosed.
"The first three home in the City Of Auckland Cup automatically get an Auckland Cup start and I think we could have done that but we chose a certain run in the Dunstan to try and win that to qualify instead.
"Finishing third that day has meant we have had to tread a different path to get her rating up which has seen a couple of setbacks put us on the back foot a little.
"Saturday was our last shot but I was confident she had taken the necessary improvement from her run at Matamata and that was how it worked out."
Hanley will now follow the mare's familiar routine this week as he and Whiting prepare for their first runner in a Group One contest although he admitted the nerves would begin to jangle as raceday drew closer. – NZ Racing Desk