The Gr.3 Winter Cup (1600m) has entered calculations for Hit The Road Jack (NZ) (Jakkalberry) following his win in the ITM/GIB Championship Open Handicap (1600m) at Avondale on Saturday.
The victory was a welcome surprise for trainer Shaun Phelan, with the Cambridge horseman believing he would be more competitive at Ruakaka next week.
Settling at the rear of the field, jockey Elen Nicholas gave Hit The Road Jack a soft run before she was able to weave a path through the field at the 600m mark and the pair found themselves hitting the front when turning for home.
Hit The Road Jack was able to hold off race favourite Helena Baby (Guillotine) to win by 2-1/4 lengths, giving Phelan something to think about as Winter progresses.
“He was having a gallop today to get ready for Ruakaka next week,” Phelan said.
“We thought we would sit back, cut the corner and bob into a nice third or fourth.
“After today, he might be a Winter Cup horse. He is a stayer, but when he is fresh, he might be able to win over a mile on a wet track, like he did today.”
Phelan was delighted to get the win with the son of Jakkalberry (Storming Home) and said he owes much of the success to his farrier.
“We had to scratch him from the Rotorua Cup (Listed, 2200m) because he had a sore foot and my farrier, Thomas Nicholson, has done a lot of work on him,” Phelan said.
Phelan was also rapt with the ride from Nicholas.
“He has got half of his hurdle ticket. He was going to go jumping soon and I might have had to get Elen to ride him because she is the only jockey that has ever won on the horse,” the leading jumps jockey quipped.
Phelan was also pleased with his team’s efforts down in Wanganui on Saturday, with Hill Of Kings (Time Test) and Covenant (Swiss Ace) placing in their respective races.
“They came down to a track that was a little bit holding and with good fields, and they both ran well,” he said.
“Ngakau Hailey rode Covenant very well and he might be a young rider to look out for.
“We bought the other one (Hill Of Kings) off gavelhouse.com for $600, so he has been a bit of fun.”
Meanwhile, Phelan is still recuperating from a fractured back he sustained at Warrnambool last month, which will rule him out of the early part of the jumps season.
“I fractured my T-6 and T-7 at Warrnambool. You can’t really play around with it,” he said.
“I have done a lot of physio and I have gone to my local chiropractor, but I am still on painkillers.
“I have just let Paul Nelson (trainer) know that I can’t ride The Cossack (Mastercraftsman) in a couple of weeks because my back just hasn’t come right as fast as I thought it would, so Aaron Kuru is going to ride him.
“He will have a flat run on Monday (at Hastings) and then go to the Waikato Steeplechase along with Nedwin (Niagara).”
