Boy
Trish Dunell
Boy has improved with each outing this preparation and a trip to the central districts on Sunday will further benefit the nine-year-old.
"He's a bit older now and he's taken longer to get fit – he's still probably 10kg above his real fighting weight," Matamata trainer Toby Autridge said.
Boy will make the second jumping appearance of his current campaign at Hawera in Sunday's Mulch & Mow Hurdles after an unplaced run two starts back over the small fences. Last time out he finished seventh on the flat in an open handicap at Te Rapa.
"The runs have brought him on and he's been working nicely since then," Autridge said. "I'm very happy to have Shaun (Phelan) on him as well."
Boy finished sixth in last year's Great Northern Hurdles at Ellerslie, but he is more likely to travel in the opposite direction this winter.
"He'll be going to the Hawke's Bay Hurdles and he could possibly end up in the Grand National, we'll have to see how he's going," Autridge said.
"He might even have a steeplechase run by the end of the season."
Autridge is also hoping the jumpers Le Bon Fin and Lucky Ruby remain healthy for upcoming campaigns. The former hasn't raced since he suffered a leg injury when he fell at Wanganui last August.
"He faltered on the take-off side at the second last and never got enough height," Autridge said. "At this stage he looks like he's coming up well."
Lucky Ruby is also unraced since she dead-heated with the capable The Shackler in a Cambridge hurdle trial 10 months ago. – NZ Racing Desk.
"He's a bit older now and he's taken longer to get fit – he's still probably 10kg above his real fighting weight," Matamata trainer Toby Autridge said.
Boy will make the second jumping appearance of his current campaign at Hawera in Sunday's Mulch & Mow Hurdles after an unplaced run two starts back over the small fences. Last time out he finished seventh on the flat in an open handicap at Te Rapa.
"The runs have brought him on and he's been working nicely since then," Autridge said. "I'm very happy to have Shaun (Phelan) on him as well."
Boy finished sixth in last year's Great Northern Hurdles at Ellerslie, but he is more likely to travel in the opposite direction this winter.
"He'll be going to the Hawke's Bay Hurdles and he could possibly end up in the Grand National, we'll have to see how he's going," Autridge said.
"He might even have a steeplechase run by the end of the season."
Autridge is also hoping the jumpers Le Bon Fin and Lucky Ruby remain healthy for upcoming campaigns. The former hasn't raced since he suffered a leg injury when he fell at Wanganui last August.
"He faltered on the take-off side at the second last and never got enough height," Autridge said. "At this stage he looks like he's coming up well."
Lucky Ruby is also unraced since she dead-heated with the capable The Shackler in a Cambridge hurdle trial 10 months ago. – NZ Racing Desk.
