Wise Men Say
Race Images Palmerston North
The Wanganui horseman looks to have another exciting prospect on his hands in Wise Men Say, but he isn't about to make any ambitious plans just yet.
"Plenty can go wrong and you have to keep your feet on the ground," he said. "We won't be getting carried away."
Raced by Connors with his father Mark, Wise Men Say was a maiden winner on the flat last winter and two subsequent starts over the big fences resulted in a win and a placing before he was spelled.
The lightly-raced six-year-old returned in style at Wanganui on Sunday when he won the Jolt Coffee House Open Steeplechase.
"We were pretty happy with him, it was a good effort first-up," Connors said. "I thought he may have needed the race and had been hoping to get a run into him beforehand.
"He's been in work since January and I would have liked to have given him a flat race, but it didn't work out and then he missed the point-to-point meeting at Waverley when they called that off.
"He stays well, which is obviously a big plus, and he'll go to Hawera next. He's still quite young and if he goes well again we might set our sights a little bit higher."
Connors, who trained and rode Our Jonty to win a Great Northern Steeplechase and prepared Hypnotize to win the Ellerslie feature three times, has a young team of jumpers in work, including the capable flat galloper Grey Guru.
The winner of five races and runner-up in last year's Listed Wanganui Cup, he placed in his only hurdle start two years ago. – NZ Racing Desk.
