Action needed not talk

Talk The Torque has been warned should he fail to find his best form this preparation.

The Awapuni gelding looked a bright prospect two seasons back when he won three times, but then disappointed last winter.

“He didn’t come up at all and he’s a really intelligent horse who decided he didn’t want to be a racehorse,” trainer Trina Riddell said. “He’s got a mind of his own and if he doesn’t show anything in his first three or four starts he might be finished or he could be tried as a jumper.”

Talk The Torque finished seventh when resuming at Woodville last week and he will be back in action in the Carters Hcp on his home track today. “He didn’t have that hard a run and was on the inner when the better part of the track was out wider.”

In contrast to Talk The Torque, his stablemate and Benchtop Surfaces Hcp contender Wiggle can’t be faulted on his racing attitude.

“He’s a tough little horse and very genuine,” Riddell said. “He usually needs a couple of runs as well.”

Wiggle will be making the third appearance of his preparation today after a last-start sixth at Otaki.

“The track didn’t suit him and I should have late scratched him really,” Riddell said. “He clipped heels at the 600 and almost fell.”

Wiggle will be ridden by Riddell’s husband Jonathan, while apprentice Miranda Dravitzki will take charge of Talk The Torque.