Norvall can’t wait to get back on Veyron
Star galloper Veyron is the next focus for Saturday’s Te Awamutu Cupwinning rider Rogan Norvall, writes Aidan Rodley.
As satisfying as his win was in Saturday’s $ 25,000 Freight Lines Te Awamutu Cup, it doesn’t compare to the anticipation of a pending engagement for Cambridge jockey Rogan Norvall.
Norvall claimed a memorable win in the Te Awamutu 1580m feature aboard veteran winter galloper Little Alfie Brown, but an even bigger source of excitement for the jockey was his imminent reunion with star galloper Veyron in Saturday’s 1400m open handicap at Ruakaka.
“He’s working a treat and he’s looking really good,” Norvall said.
“He’ll be vulnerable first-up but it will be good to get back on him.”
Cambridge trainer Linda Laing confirmed five-time Gr I winner Veyron was working well in preparation for his new campaign. “He’s good,” Laing said.
A spring campaign has yet to be set in stone for Veyron, though Laing said it was unlikely he would contest any of the triple crown races at Hastings.
“His main aim is the Zabeel Classic and his preparation will be set around having him right for that,” said Laing, who hasn’t ruled out a trip to Australia before the Ellerslie Boxing Day feature.
Norvall, 37, showed he was on form for the Veyron assignment with a polished ride to get rising nine-year-old D’Cash gelding Little Alfie Brown home for Cambridge owner-trainer Peter Blick.
Norvall paid credit to fellow Cambridge jockey Lynsey Satherley after the win.
“All credit goes to Lynsey. She organised the ride for me. She said he’d been working extra well and she gave me instructions on exactly how to ride him,” Norvall said.
“He’s better off out a little bit wider, out of trouble and left to his own devices.
“He was travelling nicely and he kept quickening for me as everything else was fading. I was surprised how quickly he picked up Abeautifulred.”
Abeautifulred led up and looked the winner with 300m to run but couldn’t
Little Alfie Brown (Rogan Norvall) races clear to win Saturday’s $25,000 Te Awamutu Cup. sustain his effort as Little Alfie Brown swallowed him up in the final stages, going on to win by 2½ lengths from the fast-finishing Atom Cat, who had a long head over third-placed Old Drumble. Abeautifulred was a neck back in fourth.
It was Little Alfie Brown’s seventh win in 52 starts and caught most punters out, paying $ 38.40 to win.
It was Norvall’s first ride on Little Alfie Brown since consecutive second placings on him in September 2010.
In the interim, Satherley had become the galloper’s regular partner, having missed only one of his 31 previous starts.
However, she had a good reason for missing Saturday’s race, afterwards revealing she was pregnant with her second child.
Already mum to four-year-old Sophie, Satherley wouldn’t give away how many months pregnant she was, other than to say she was past the time New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing allowed female jockeys to ride.
Blick said Satherley had played a key role in Little Alfie Brown’s development and as a lightweight track rider this preparation.
“Lynsey’s taking a break for personal reasons at the moment but she would have been a home jumping up and down, I’m sure,” Blick said.
“He’s an eight-year-old, going on three. This year he’s rising nine but he’s the best he’s ever been. I’ve done a few things differently, but nothing drastic.”
Blick, 66, said the subtle changes to Little Alfie Brown’s training regime involved reducing his workload, using Satherley as opposed to heavier previous work riders to lessen the impact on his legs and swimming him, again to avoid pressure on his legs.
He had also brought him back into training earlier, so his fitness levels were already high before the plough tracks were closed for winter, and avoided energy-sapping races on heavy tracks, such as the Kiwifruit Cup at Tauranga.
“I’m not surprised he went a big race, but I’m a little surprised he won because there were some pretty good ones in there. I knew he was dropping back to a mile but I’ve never had the horse better,” Blick said.
“He’d had five weeks off and a couple of run alongs, but he usually goes well fresh. I thought if he could weigh in I’d be happy because he had to have a run before the Taumarunui Cup.
“That’s three weeks away and that will suit him down to the ground, back to Te Rapa where he loves it.”
The Listed $ 80,000 Taumarunui Gold Cup (2100m) is run on July 29 and Blick was optimistic Little Alfie Brown could make an immediate impact in his first run in the Te Rapa feature.
“He’s not a champion horse but he’s got a bit in here,” Blick said as he patted his horse’s chest.