Guineas hopes for new partnership
OTI Racing’s Terry Henderson struck Classic group one glory earlier this year with Vin De Dance and he’s hoping to have another quality Kiwi three-year-old on his hands in the form of Redwood gelding Lumberjack.
The Chris Gibbs and Michelle Bradley-trained runner has been nominated for the group one Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on the Syndicate manager’s behest and his Ruakaka trainers hope to have stablemate Call Me Murphy join him in the October feature.
The pair finished third in their respective last starts, at Ruakaka on August 12, but Gibbs said the race might come up too soon for his runners.
“We’re probably behind the eightball a bit with those two boys,” he said. “Terry Henderson owns half of Lumberjack and it was his idea.
“That’s why we also put Call Me Murphy in because we thought the horse is following a similar programme, so we chucked him in there as well, because you just never know. We were probably hoping one of them would have won at their second start, but I think they both had excuses not to have won.
“They are both still on target, but it might come around a little bit too soon, but we certainly haven’t put a line through it yet.”
Their spring campaigns will be assessed after both geldings compete over 1400m on their home track next month. “They will both head towards the maiden 1400 at Ruakaka on September 15,” Gibbs said.