Henry Dwyer is looking forward to the jumps return of Riding High (NZ) (Raise The Flag) who will contest the first feature race of the Warrnambool May Carnival.
The three-day meeting kicks off on Tuesday with the Brierly Steeplechase (3450m) the feature of the opening day.
It will be a little over 12 months since Riding High last raced over jumps, winning a 3500m steeplechase at Pakenham on April 18.
“He won his first start over jumps last season at Pakenham, and he hung in badly late, so we thought there might have been something amiss,” Dwyer said.
“He pulled-up with a tendon issue. He had a good stint of rehab, a long break, so we wrote off last season and focussed on this year.
“He’s had a really solid lead-up to this year, albeit without a jumps race, but his form on the flat is really good, for him anyway, and we’re itching to get back over the jumps again.”
Riding High won at the Carnival in 2020 over hurdles and made his steeplechasing debut the following year in a restricted steeplechase but failed to finish.
He came out at his next start to win the Australian Steeplechase at Sandown.
Dwyer said he was at a loss to explain that effort two years ago as overall Riding High’s steeplechase form has been terrific, and he has been back to school at Warrnambool six or seven times.
“With Stern Idol (Raven’s Pass) not accepting it makes it an even Brierly and with those horses there are no X-factors, they’ve all been going around against each other for the past two or three seasons,” Dwyer said.
“He’s right up there with them and it’s going to be a good competitive race.”
Dwyer said the margin Riding High was beaten by behind Britannicus, an opponent on Tuesday, in a school at Warrnambool on April 21 should be overlooked.
“There was a riderless horse and Britannicus got stirred up and took off, so I wouldn’t say Britannicus trialled any better than anything else,” Dwyer said.
“We were able to keep a hold of him and cruise around behind them.
“I would probably prefer it not to be wet for him, but we’ll see what happens.”
