The in-form Ideas Man will be attempting to make it four straight wins when he lines up in the 1100m Benchmark 75 feature at Darwin this Saturday.
The six-year-old gelding, second in the $135,000 Palmerston Sprint (1200m) during the Darwin Cup Carnival in early August, had a brief spell before returning in September and winning three straight over the short course.
While each win was achieved by a narrow margin, trainer Chris Nash is pleased to see the son of Brazen Beau racing with such zest.
“Yeah, he’s going really well and he’s in great form,” he said.
“Obviously, his grand final really was the Palmerston Sprint, where he ran as well as he could – he ran a bottler.”
Ideas Man led most of the way in the Palmerston before succumbing to Dick Leech’s fast-finishing Early Crow in the final 200m.
That was after coming 10th in the corresponding race the previous year.
In his next start, over 1000m at Benchmark 76 level on September 2, he took a sit in third place before hitting the front in the home straight to overcome Star Magnum and Rising Sphere by 0.2 of a length.
A week later, Ideas Man led from the start in the Melanie Tyndall Memorial Handicap (1200m) and hung on to edge out City Regal by 0.2 of a length.
He got home by 0.8 of a length two weeks ago over 1200m against BM76 class, once again withstanding a late burst from City Regal.
City Regal, Star Magnum and Rising Sphere, as well as Mr Cashman – third in the Palmerston – will serve it up to Ideas Man on Saturday, while Syncline, Bel’s Banner and Surreal Image must be respected.
“He’s not completely one-dimensional, but he’s definitely a better horse if he can lead and find the fence,” Nash said.
Ideas Man posted two wins and a second before the Palmerston, but it was a similar case last year when he finished second in his first Top End start and then strung three straight wins together before capitulating behind Syncline in the NT’s feature race for the sprinters.
Nash, who won the Palmerston in 2021 with Mayameen, is clearly enjoying the ride with Ideas Man, but stressed that the weather will play a key role in any future plans.
“He’s a horse that doesn’t handle the heat and the humidity here very well,” the 34-year-old said.
“Every run since the Palmerston potentially could have been his last, but luckily the weather has been quite mild and I’ve been able to just keep him ticking over and keep going and he hasn’t looked back.
“We’re all starting to feel the effects of the build-up (to wet season) – it’s just starting to creep in.
“I imagine he will start to feel that a bit himself over the coming weeks, which might mean that Saturday could be his last run this prep.
“As long as he’s handling the weather, I have no intentions of stopping with him because he’s in such a good vein of form.
“Once the wet season does fully kick in, he will go south for a spell.”
The opposition on Saturday won’t differ that much, and although Nash has admiration for his rivals, it’s the 63.5kg he has to carry that is of more concern.
“The weight is probably starting to catch up with him and he’s going to have to carry the full impost – we’re not claiming this time,” he said.
“If there was a little asterisk as to why he might be vulnerable, that might be the reason, but other than that I couldn’t be happier with him and there’s no reason he shouldn’t win again.”
Victorian apprentice Makisha Salter claimed 3kg when Ideas Man lumped 59.5kg last start, but visiting Victorian jockey Mark Pegus returns to the saddle on Saturday after relinquishing the ride to Sonja Logan following the Palmerston.
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