Southern Icon
Trish Dunell
A powerful front-running victory at Hastings on Saturday may have sealed the deal for a return trip to the same venue in the spring for Matamata galloper Southern Icon.
The free-going, four-year-old Big Brown gelding destroyed his rating 85 rivals with a dominant performance that saw him register his second win from just two starts in this campaign and the fifth of his career to date.
A series of minor niggles has restricted the Alan Tait trained gelding to just fifteen further starts since registering a victory in his first race day appearance back in May 2014. Tait has played a patient game with the gelding as he believes he has the talent to make it to the top echelon of sprinter/milers in the country.
"It has been a little frustrating along the way as we know how much ability he has but he has been hampered by a series of minor issues," he explained.
"From the minute he won his first race as a two-year-old I thought he was a horse that we would see contest some of those good three-year-old features but we just couldn't get him to sustain a decent preparation.
"He really has had only a handful of starts and on several occasions he hasn't even been able to get to the trials before we've had to tip him out again."
Tait is confident that maturity has played to the gelding's advantage as he has come back with a vengeance in this preparation which saw him win in effortless fashion at Awapuni before tackling his latest task.
"He is doing all the right things at the moment and I guess as he has matured it has ironed out some of the kinks he had early on," he said.
"If you look at his record and at some of the horses he has beaten I do think he has the ability to handle stakes company in the future.
"I think we will probably give him one more run this time in and then tip him out with an eye on those Hastings features next season.
"The only problem I can really see at this stage might be getting a start as he doesn't have the black type record that he needs to guarantee a run however I know he would be competitive if he did get in." - NZ Racing Desk
The free-going, four-year-old Big Brown gelding destroyed his rating 85 rivals with a dominant performance that saw him register his second win from just two starts in this campaign and the fifth of his career to date.
A series of minor niggles has restricted the Alan Tait trained gelding to just fifteen further starts since registering a victory in his first race day appearance back in May 2014. Tait has played a patient game with the gelding as he believes he has the talent to make it to the top echelon of sprinter/milers in the country.
"It has been a little frustrating along the way as we know how much ability he has but he has been hampered by a series of minor issues," he explained.
"From the minute he won his first race as a two-year-old I thought he was a horse that we would see contest some of those good three-year-old features but we just couldn't get him to sustain a decent preparation.
"He really has had only a handful of starts and on several occasions he hasn't even been able to get to the trials before we've had to tip him out again."
Tait is confident that maturity has played to the gelding's advantage as he has come back with a vengeance in this preparation which saw him win in effortless fashion at Awapuni before tackling his latest task.
"He is doing all the right things at the moment and I guess as he has matured it has ironed out some of the kinks he had early on," he said.
"If you look at his record and at some of the horses he has beaten I do think he has the ability to handle stakes company in the future.
"I think we will probably give him one more run this time in and then tip him out with an eye on those Hastings features next season.
"The only problem I can really see at this stage might be getting a start as he doesn't have the black type record that he needs to guarantee a run however I know he would be competitive if he did get in." - NZ Racing Desk