Fully Funded
Trish Dunell
Fully Funded's dislike of rain-affected tracks is trainer Jo Surgenor's main concern as her star sprinter prepares to round out his 2015-16 season.
Fully Funded tackles Saturday's feature open sprint at Ellerslie, bidding to embellish his season's record of eight starts for three wins and three second placings.
He produced a defiant performance to win the Rating 85 sprint at Ellerslie on Auckland Cup day last start, adding to earlier wins at the track this season in Rating 75 company on Boxing Day and in open grade on January 9.
"He's amongst the big boys now but he deserves to be," Surgenor said.
"He's carried big weights and run good times so we couldn't have asked for much more from him. His downfall could be a wet track."
The Ellerslie track was rated a dead four on Thursday morning, but steady rain was forecast for Friday and Saturday, likely to lead to a higher penetrometer reading.
With the onset of autumn and the likely worsening of track conditions, Surgenor said Saturday's race loomed as Fully Funded's final run for the season unless track conditions were better for the Listed NZB Finance And Leasing Sprint at Hastings (1200m) on April 16 and he ran well at Ellerslie this weekend.
"He really dug in to get the win there last time. He does prick his ears when he gets to the front and says 'I'm here now' so it's just a matter of timing his run and making sure he really finds the line."
Reese Jones will ride Fully Funded on Saturday, with the horse pleasing in trackwork since his last-start win.
"He's really come on. I couldn't be any happier with him," Surgenor said.
"He's certainly a progressive horse and I'd say he'll definitely go to that next level next season. He's done more than enough this time in, but we'd like to think he could be a Railway horse next season."
Surgenor, who will also produce Mighty Me and Qikcat at Ellerslie on Saturday, has her eye on Group One spoils before that though.
Seven-win galloper Bechtolsheimer will tackle Saturday week's 1400m open handicap at Te Aroha as a lead-up to the Gr.1 Manco Easter (1600m) at Ellerslie on April 23. - NZ Racing Desk
Fully Funded tackles Saturday's feature open sprint at Ellerslie, bidding to embellish his season's record of eight starts for three wins and three second placings.
He produced a defiant performance to win the Rating 85 sprint at Ellerslie on Auckland Cup day last start, adding to earlier wins at the track this season in Rating 75 company on Boxing Day and in open grade on January 9.
"He's amongst the big boys now but he deserves to be," Surgenor said.
"He's carried big weights and run good times so we couldn't have asked for much more from him. His downfall could be a wet track."
The Ellerslie track was rated a dead four on Thursday morning, but steady rain was forecast for Friday and Saturday, likely to lead to a higher penetrometer reading.
With the onset of autumn and the likely worsening of track conditions, Surgenor said Saturday's race loomed as Fully Funded's final run for the season unless track conditions were better for the Listed NZB Finance And Leasing Sprint at Hastings (1200m) on April 16 and he ran well at Ellerslie this weekend.
"He really dug in to get the win there last time. He does prick his ears when he gets to the front and says 'I'm here now' so it's just a matter of timing his run and making sure he really finds the line."
Reese Jones will ride Fully Funded on Saturday, with the horse pleasing in trackwork since his last-start win.
"He's really come on. I couldn't be any happier with him," Surgenor said.
"He's certainly a progressive horse and I'd say he'll definitely go to that next level next season. He's done more than enough this time in, but we'd like to think he could be a Railway horse next season."
Surgenor, who will also produce Mighty Me and Qikcat at Ellerslie on Saturday, has her eye on Group One spoils before that though.
Seven-win galloper Bechtolsheimer will tackle Saturday week's 1400m open handicap at Te Aroha as a lead-up to the Gr.1 Manco Easter (1600m) at Ellerslie on April 23. - NZ Racing Desk