Vandyke nears his half-ton

CALOUNDRA trainer David Vandyke has placed a wellpublicised ban on running his horses at Eagle Farm but is set to make up for it on Saturday.

Vandyke will not run his horses at the Brisbane track until he is satisfied the hard surface has softened.

However, he is set to pass 50 winners for the season with six runners at Doomben on Saturday – Cloak and Constant Flight (Pitcher Partners Open), Weona Smartone (Chemist Warehouse Plate), Iamican (Capestone Village Plate), Toorooloo (Go Transit 3YO) and Hold The Line (Class 6).

Vandyke (pictured) has built a strong profile of placing his horses to advantage which means his 49 winners are from just 163 starters at a 30 per cent win strike rate.

“I moved to Queensland with the aim of making a living and at the same time enjoying life. So things are going nicely,” he said.

Cloak is a perfect example of Vandyke’s ability to place horses where they can win.

The gelding has won four times and been second in five starts for Vandyke.

Cloak was previously raced by Godolphin when he won two races and finished second in the Group 3 Spring Stakes at Newcastle.

The gelding is now raced by Vandyke’s friends and great supporters Murray and Susan Keating.

The Keatings were among the first to support Vandyke when he returned to training a decade ago and had a share in his gelding Less Is More who won the Listed Premier’s Cup and was Group placed.

They run several car dealerships in country NSW and Vandyke stayed with them when he worked for trainer Tim Martin before going out on his own.