Group Three performer Chattahoochee (NZ) (Reliable Man) continued his good run of form at Tauranga on Saturday when placing in the Team Wealleans 1600, putting him in line for a potential trip across the Tasman.
The grey gelding settled in just behind the speed for jockey Lynsey Satherley, who asked her charge to improve with 500m to go and presented him four wide at the turn. He hit the lead with 150m to go but was run down late by Mustang Valley and Ladies Man to finish third.
Trainer Debbie Sweeney was pleased with the run and said he is on the right path after finishing runner-up to Snazzytavi in his last start over a mile at Te Rapa last month.
“It was a really good run yesterday, he is pretty honest,” she said. “He got beaten by two Group One winners, and Mustang Valley is a very good horse.
“Snazzytavi is a very good horse as well, so the form around him his good.
“He pulled up well after yesterday, I am pretty happy with him. He has trotted up nice and sound this morning. He is on the right path again now.”
Chattahoochee will now head to Ellerslie later this month where his performance will dictate his future plans, with Sweeney weighing up a potential trip to Australia with the son of Reliable Man.
“I’ll probably look at heading to Ellerslie with him for an Open mile and then we will make some decisions after that about what we do with him, whether he races here or goes for a break,” she said. “We might go over to Australia with him at some stage, we will just see what happens after his next start.”
Chattahoochee finished runner-up behind Snazzytavi in the Gr.3 Easter Handicap (1600m) at Te Rapa in April, and with his recent results Sweeney is excited about his prospects.
“It looks like he is definitely going to measure up now in Open Class,” she said. “He was originally nominated for the Group One mile (Arrowfield Stud Plate) at Hastings, but he was never going to get in the field and he wasn’t going good enough at the time. Now he is back in form we will just see.
“He is a neat horse to have around, he is good to do anything with, he has got a great attitude and everyone just loves him. He is one of those horses that everyone falls in love with.”
Sweeney said Chattahoochee has a large fan base, with no shortage of requests to rehome the gelding post his racing career.
“He is a lovely grey horse that has got a bit of a following,” she said. “There are a lot of people always asking when he retires if they could have him as a pleasure horse, but I think his owner Lisa Anderson will keep him.”
Meanwhile, Sweeney was pleased to see stablemate Ranger (NZ) (Ghibellines) post his sixth career win at Cambridge Synthetic earlier in the week.
The eight-year-old son of Ghibellines has thrived on the surface, having now won two and placed in five of his nine starts on the synthetic track.
“It was good to see the old boy win again, he just doesn’t want to retire,” Sweeney said. “It is a shame the synthetic track is now closed. I think the owners are keen to give him another run on a grass track somewhere and see what he does.
“He has been a good old boy for the stable and he just loves racing at the moment, he is in a really good space. I know it was only a five-horse field, but he still won nicely and it is hard to win a race anywhere.”