Rudy is travelling nicely
POPULAR Gold Coast horse Rudy will have two Queensland starts before heading off on his seventh interstate campaign.
Rudy is ready to have his first race start in three months when he resumes in the Listed Goldmarket Stakes (1200m) at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
Trainer Helen Page plans to back up Rudy in a 1600m race at Doomben on Saturday week.
“From there we will head to Sydney with the JRA Plate (on April 21) as his main aim. He was very unlucky in that race last year,” Page said.
“After that we will follow a similar path to last year and come back for the winter, starting with the Hollindale Cup at the Gold Coast (on May 7).
“He has flown the flag for Queensland for years and it one of the reasons he is so popular.”
Page said wet weather had hampered Rudy’s preparation but he had been going well for his comeback.
Rudy passed $1 million in prizemoney when he won last year’s Group 3 Tattersall’s Cup at Doomben in June.
He raced in the Brisbane summer with his last run in the Shoot Out Quality on December 31.
“We were hoping to get him into the Magic Millions Stayers Cup but the leader in the Shoot Out walked in front and sprinted home in a very fast sectional so he had no hope,” Page said.
Rudy had his first interstate trip in December 2014 when he won the Group 2 Villiers at Randwick.
He has since been to Sydney and Melbourne six times and contested some of Australia’s elite races.
“One thing he always tries and while he has a big weight on Saturday he has earned it,” Page said, referring to the 60kg he will have to carry.
Rudy has drawn barrier 14 in a field of 15 on Saturday but the track is likely to be his favoured sift to heavy rating.
The Gold Coast was rated a heavy nine yesterday but strong winds and little rain are predicted for the next few days.
The Goldmarket meeting, traditionally one of the Gold Coast’s best race days, has been boosted further this year with the running of two QTIS-backed races, the 2YO Jewel and 3YO Jewel.
Plumaro, the $2.15 favourites in the $250,000 race for two-year-olds, drew barrier 13 in the 14-horse field.
Next in the market at $5 is Mishani Hustler, whose trainer Ben Currie led in his 100th winner for the season at Doomben yesterday.