Anderson stable in rich vein of fine form
RESIDENTS living near Westwood Beach should not be alarmed if they see lowflying equine aircraft in the area this week.
The speed machines that will be flying up and down their sandy shores only pose a threat on southern race tracks.
So dominant was Graeme Anderson’s racing team of six horses at Forbury Park and Invercargill at the weekend, they had racegoers summing them up with the old cliche that his charges were ‘‘low flying’’.
After he lined up Delightful Jay, Hope And Dreams and Bakari at Forbury Park on Thursday night for three wins, he trekked three more horses to Northern Southland Cup day on Saturday.
The results were similar with All Star Magician and Eamon Maguire winning and Titan Banner running second.
Although he could not give his trainer the perfect weekend, Titan Banner went down fighting.
His defeat, in running second, could be largely attributed to his own good standing start.
The pacer was close enough to get to the lead after starting well, but once Captain Dolmio and John Dunn found the front, they were not surrendering, leaving Titan Banner parked throughout the race.
‘‘I had a crack to get it [the front] but we didn’t make it, then he got keen. It was a massive run; he went really good.’’
Finding the front was never really an option for Dunn either, when he steered Eamon Maguire to victory in the next race on the programme.
A chain reaction from two runners locking wheels sent the horse very wide and well back in the field on the first turn.
From there, Dunn progressed forward, but so fast was the race tempo, getting the lead from Rakarolla and Clark Bar ron was never really an option, he said.
Instead, Dunn stalked Rakarolla and the trailing Jimmy Mack before slingshotting the pair in the home straight.
Such was the race tempo, Eamon Maguire’s 2.39.8 winning time broke his own track record for 3yrolds over 2200m.
‘‘We were rolling along. He got checked early and did a bit of work.’’
Such is Eamon Maguire’s dominance in graded racing, the horse has earned his chance to race in open 3yrold company.
Although he did not compare the pair on ability, Dunn thinks Eamon Maguire is at a similar position in his career to where Northern Derby winner Raukapuka Ruler was before his win in that race on Friday night.
‘‘He is like Raukapuka Ruler; he has done everything asked on him in his grade. Then you have to give him a chance to step up.’’
All Star Magician too continued his domination of the lower grades with a c1 win earlier on Saturday’s programme. Whether the horse will step up further in the southern classes, like stablemate Eamon Maguire, will be dependent on whether the horse is sold overseas or stays with Anderson.
The trainer’s fivewin bag over the weekend took him to 28 wins this season from 65 starts.
That puts his UDR strike rate head and shoulders above any other trainer in New Zealand who has had 20 or more starts.
That includes the formidable Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen stable, the previous trainers of both All Star Magician and Titan Banner.
Dunn’s weekend had one tinge of sadness.
He would miss his longtime drive on open class pacer and the winner of almost $2.5 million Christen Me, who has been sold and will do his future racing in North America, he said.