Gobstopper
Race Images Palmerston North
Gobstopper has a long way to go to match the deeds of his older brother, but a bold showing on Saturday would give him the chance to draw level on one score.
The Tavistock three-year-old will run in the Tui Lager Handicap at Tauherenikau with victory to earn him a return north on April 23 for a crack at a Group Two event won by his sibling Werther last season.
"If he does win on Saturday then we'll have a look at Ellerslie and try and do it again," trainer Andrew Campbell said.
The Opaki-based horseman prepared Werther to claim the Valachi Downs Championship Stakes at Auckland before he took him to Australia where he was the dual Group One runner-up in the South Australia and Queensland Derbys.
In between times he beat the older horses in the Gr.2 Eagle Farm Cup.
Werther was subsequently sold to clients of John Moore's Sha Tin stable and last weekend he triumphed in the Gr.1 Hong Kong Derby.
"It was brilliant, very satisfying, but there were a few headaches the next morning," Campbell said.
Comparisons may be inevitable, but Gobstopper hasn't had a lot of luck in trying to step out of Werther's shadow and his Gr.1 New Zealand Derby hopes were crushed early on.
"He got to the winning post the first time and just got smashed," Campbell said. "I'm certainly not saying he would have won, but he had been working up well for it."
A winner three runs back, Gobstopper had then finished fourth after an interrupted run behind the subsequent Derby runner-up What's The Story. – NZ Racing Desk.
The Tavistock three-year-old will run in the Tui Lager Handicap at Tauherenikau with victory to earn him a return north on April 23 for a crack at a Group Two event won by his sibling Werther last season.
"If he does win on Saturday then we'll have a look at Ellerslie and try and do it again," trainer Andrew Campbell said.
The Opaki-based horseman prepared Werther to claim the Valachi Downs Championship Stakes at Auckland before he took him to Australia where he was the dual Group One runner-up in the South Australia and Queensland Derbys.
In between times he beat the older horses in the Gr.2 Eagle Farm Cup.
Werther was subsequently sold to clients of John Moore's Sha Tin stable and last weekend he triumphed in the Gr.1 Hong Kong Derby.
"It was brilliant, very satisfying, but there were a few headaches the next morning," Campbell said.
Comparisons may be inevitable, but Gobstopper hasn't had a lot of luck in trying to step out of Werther's shadow and his Gr.1 New Zealand Derby hopes were crushed early on.
"He got to the winning post the first time and just got smashed," Campbell said. "I'm certainly not saying he would have won, but he had been working up well for it."
A winner three runs back, Gobstopper had then finished fourth after an interrupted run behind the subsequent Derby runner-up What's The Story. – NZ Racing Desk.
