Southern snippets

Tom and Julie Kilkelly and Alan and Kerry Harper enjoyed double code success last week when Captain Meister (Captaintreacherous) won at the Winton harness racing meeting in the hands of trainer Kirstin Green. And to boot, their galloper Sestina trained by Jo-Anne Dalton won at Ascot Park on Saturday.

Wag Star (Sweet Lou) is one of the southern stars this season and is having a short break after racing the best of his age group in the spring and summer.

“We’ll bring him back in the next week or two. We’ll see how he steps up to some of those Country Cup type races. To me he looks like he’s going to be a horse that progresses as he gets a bit older,” trainer Craig Ferguson said.

In his breakout season Wag Star won four of his ten starts and was second three times, winning $56,438. He finished fourth in the G1 Flying Stakes and seventh in the G1 New Zealand Derby.

Ferguson says Louies Girl (Lord Forbes) is also having a break and will be aimed at the Southern Oaks next season whilst three year old Rustenburg (Sweet Lou) is also spelling.

“He’s quite a big horse and wasn’t holding his condition as well as I would have liked so I put him aside. He’ll do a good job next year.”

Rustenburg won two of his four starts and was a close second to Dreams Are Free in his first start for the Ferguson stable.

An out of form Pembrook Playboy (Bettor’s Delight) will undergo some tests this week in an endeavour to get to the bottom of his problems.

“Hopefully we can see something we can rectify and get him back on track to race at a later stage,” trainer Nathan Williamson said.

His smart two year old Dreams Are Free (Captaintreacherous) is currently having a four week break.

“We’ll have him ready for the Supremacy and Sires Stakes heats in March and April. He did a lot in a short space of time. He’s a big horse so I think he’ll be a better three year old. It’ll be exciting when he comes back and is up and going.”

Meanwhile unbeaten Miraculous’s (Bettor’s Delight) season is on hold awaiting his age to change at the end of this month.

“He was down to race this week but the race never got off the ground. The only other race he was eligible for was the higher rating race which would have been totally ridiculous. He’s ready to race but there’s not too many options over the Christmas period. He’ll be eligible for the second heat of the Southern Supremacy at Omakau.”

In the space of three days – Thursday, Friday and Saturday of last week on both sides of the Tasman,  Michael Boots of Boots Properties Racing Pty Ltd won seven races. On Thursday he scored a double at the Winton meeting in New Zealand with Major Envy (Art Major) and Miraculous (Bettor’s Delight) whilst on Friday night at Leeton Australia, Mr Bondi (Downbytheseaside) and Glenledi Elvis (A Rocknroll Dance) each won.

On Saturday Chivalry (Sweet Lou) and Sugar Apple (Sweet Lou) notched up another double at Gloucester Park and Dalvey Robyn (Washington VC) bred by Graeme Edgar won at Cranbourne.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink