Humidor will go forward

Central Districts galloper Humidor’s awkward draw in the Cantala Stakes at Flemington today won’t change Johno Benner’s final words to jockey Michael Walker.

The Otaki trainer will be instructing the former Kiwi to have the well- performed 4- year- old on the pace. “We’ve got the visitor’s draw, but we’ll still go forward,” said Benner, who prepares Humidor with his partner Hollie Wynyard.

“We want to make use of his light weight [ 52.5kg] and give him every opportunity to be competitive.”

The lightly- tried Humidor has won four of his nine races, including last season’s Manawatu Classic, and in his most recent appearance he finished runner- up to Willie Cazals in the Livamol Classic.

“We couldn’t be happier with him — he travelled over well and he’s settled in and doing everything right,” Benner said on Thursday.

“He hasn’t missed a beat since he’s been here and he’s a very, very fit horse. He did his last piece of work this morning and he looked great – he breezed up on his own here at Flemington and he worked home well over the last 400m.”

While Humidor’s best form is over ground, Benner said 1600m today would be ideal for the son of Teofilo.

“He’s freshened up nicely since running over 2000m and a mile at Flemington should suit him. This will more than likely be his only run here and this trip will be the making of him.

“We know we’ve got a pretty serious horse and hopefully he will be back again next year.”