The dream of winning the Group 2 Auckland Cup (3200m) is back on with Southland stayer Dunhill.
Originally entered for Saturday’s $500,000 staying feature at Pukekohe, the son of Pins hit a rough patch with a few ailments which resulted in co-trainer and part-owner Kelvin Tyler withdrawing the five-year-old gelding from the race.
However, Dunhill has turned a corner in the last month, with his five-length victory in the Invercargill Gold Cup (2600m) cementing Tyler’s decision to re-enter the Auckland Cup fray with his charge.
“I paid a late nomination for him this morning,” said Tyler, who trains in partnership with his daughter Aimee.
“He was originally nominated but I pulled him out because he had a few niggles. He has got over them and the last month he has just been a different horse.
“His run at Invercargill last start is the Dunhill that I expect. He was really strong through the line over 2600m, and I have got no doubt he will get two miles on his ear.”
Dunhill is en route to Auckland, breaking up the long trip from his Riverton base with a couple of days with Tyler in Otaki.
“He left Riverton on Saturday morning and arrived at Otaki at 3:30pm on Sunday. He has spent the last two days here and has settled in well,” Tyler said.
“It is a massive trip, but he travels well. As long as he has got company, he is pretty good. It helps when you have got a paddock on the other end when you get off the float and they can get their head down and get a pick of grass. I believe that seems to be the fastest way to get them over a trip.
“He did a nice piece of work this morning at Otaki on the course proper and I couldn’t be happier with him.”
Dunhill will continue his trip north tomorrow in preparation for the two-mile feature this weekend.
“Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning he will leave to go to Shaun and Emma Clotworthys and stay there for the next few days,” Tyler said.
“It is great that we are getting help from other trainers, it is a great community the racing community.”
Tyler hasn’t planned past Saturday with Dunhill but is open to all options.
“We will just see how he goes. He is capable of winning really good races when he is right. We will just get this one out of the road and take it from there,” he said.
Dunhill was set to be joined on his float trip north by stablemate Lightning Jack, however, Tyler has elected to bypass the Group 1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Pukekohe on Saturday in favour of a softer option at Trentham.
“We did consider it (Bonecrusher Stakes), but the field now looks like it is going to be strong, so we chickened out and he is going to go to Wellington instead in the Open Mile,” Tyler said.
Lightning Jack has performed well in his last few starts, finishing runner-up in the Listed Hazlett Stakes (1200m) at Wingatui on Boxing Day before placing in the Group 1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) at Trentham in January, and was subsequently sixth in the Group 1 WFA Classic (1600m) at Otaki last month.
“He has been going really well and he went better than it looked at Otaki too,” Tyler said. “He has always been a good horse, he just needs a bit of luck.”
All going well, Tyler will head to Awapuni next month with Lightning Jack to contest the Group 2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2000m).
“He had a nice gallop this morning, I can’t fault him, he seems to be bang on,” Tyler said.
“If he performs well he might stay up here a little longer and he might go further north at some stage, we aren’t going to disregard anything.
“There is a good race at Palmy on April 1.”
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