Packing Eagle soars
‘ His [Hong Kong] owners thought it best to retire him, but he didn’t have any injury and we were fortunate enough to get him. ’ TREVOR CRUZ
PUNTERS made Splurge the ruling favourite in yesterday’s Sweynesse Stakes (1215m) at Rotorua.
But it was his half-brother Packing Eagle, paying $14 who stole the honours in the $70,000 Group III weight-for-age feature.
Racing in Hong Kong as Packing Pins, he won six of his 19 starts for trainer Ricky Yiu before joining the Cambridge stable of Trevor and Martin Cruz.
The brothers’ mother Angel races the gelding, who has reverted to his original name of Packing Eagle, under which he won three trials for Matamata trainers Ken and Bev Kelso before heading to Hong Kong.
‘‘His [Hong Kong] owners thought it best to retire him, but he didn’t have any injury and we were fortunate enough to get him,’’ Trevor Cruz said.
‘‘He’s a very talented horse and he hasn’t lost that hunger for racing.’’
He showed that when jockey Trudy Thornton set him alight from back in yesterday’s field.
He quickly conquered his opponents and raced away for an easy win over Scapolo and Salamanca.
"He’s still got the Hong Kong form and he’s been waiting to show it,’’ Cruz said.
He’s been waiting for a good track and he found it at Rotorua and also enjoyed the solid pace set by Irish Moon.
‘‘He races best off the speed and fortunately today there was a little bit of pace on and it worked in his favour,’’ Cruz said.
The brothers will wait for suitable weight-for age or set weights and penalties races over the summer for the seven-year-old.
‘‘We’ll just take it race by race,’’ he said. ‘‘Today he’s shown us he can still do it.’’
Thornton would go anywhere to ride the gelding, even to Hong Kong if he ever returned there.
‘‘He’s a serious horse,’’ she said. ‘‘He got a track to suit, he feels amazing on that surface.
‘‘Turning for home I was quite Trish Dunell confident, he’s a powerful horse.’’
Packing Eagle failed in two warm-up runs on wet tracks in the Foxbridge Plate and Tarzino Trophy, with connections hoping rich summer sprint features bring his favourite conditions.
At yesterday’s meeting, Sir Peter Vela continued his hot recent form with a black-type win when Wildflower scored in the Listed Jakkalberry Classic.
Ethereal’s triumph was one of Vela’s greatest race track successes and at Caulfield yesterday the Ethereal Stakes was run in honour of the mare he raced with his late brother Philip.
Last weekend at Matamata, Cote D’Or won the Listed Matamata Cup for Vela where he also won a race with a black-type mare in waiting, Sleeping Beauty.
Wildflower had a ding-dong battle with Snow Secret, before being declared the winner after being given a bustling ride by top jockey Danielle Johnson.
Sam Weatherley did his best aboard Snow Secret but had to settle for second while Angel In Bluejeans ran well for third.
The winner is by Keeper and bred by her owner and his late brother out of the winning Zabeel mare Zygadene. She has won four of her 14 starts and around $100,000 in stakes.