Glory Days for part-time trainer
Waverley mare Glory Days maintained her picket fence form-line with a dominant victory in the Listed Cambridge Thoroughbred Lodge Wanganui Cup (2040m) yesterday.
It was the fourth victory in succession for the six-year-old mare, who is quickly becoming one of New Zealand’s most promising stayers.
The daughter of Red Giant relished the solid tempo set by China Star, coming from well off the pace to win with plenty in hand under a composed Lisa Allpress ride.
“It was a very, very good win,” trainer Bill Thurlow said. “I just said to Lisa before she went out there, take all of the luck out of the equation. I said just get her out in the middle of the track and I had a lot of faith in her and she did it perfectly.”
Thurlow has made no secret that he believes Glory Days, now the winner of eight races from 20 starts, could potentially be the best horse he has trained.
“It has been common knowledge in the press that once we get over ground, I think she is a very good horse and she proved it [yesterday].”
The farmer and part-time horse trainer has previously prepared Referred to finish second in the group one New Zealand Oaks (2400m), while Yours won eight races and ran fourth in the group three New Zealand Cup (3200m).
Glory Days is on a path towards the group three City of Auckland Cup (2400m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day, with both the Wellington Cup and Auckland Cup in her long-term plans.
Glory Days has been patiently handled by Thurlow and did not race until she was four.
“She’s a mare that’s taken a long time to mature,” he said. “There’s not a lot of her, and in her younger days, she probably wasn’t 100 per cent right mentally either. We let her develop and tell us when she was ready to go over further, and she was sort of telling us that after her second start this season.”
Glory Days is one of 12 horses in training at the Thurlow family’s Stainley Park in Waverley, which they operate alongside their farming business.
The winner of more than $160,000 in prizemoney, Glory Days is raced by Thurlow’s brother Grant, his wife Patricia and his neighbours and fellow farmers Brent and Sue McAree.