A trip to Melbourne could be on the cards for Sagunto (NZ) (O’Reilly) after his brave runner-up result in the Gr.3 Trentham Stakes (2100m) on Saturday.
From his outside barrier (14), the seven-year-old gelding was sent forward early by jockey and co-trainer Shaun McKay to take up his customary front-running role.
McKay gave his charge his head and he quickly distanced his rivals, opening up a 10-length advantage down the backstraight. The son of O’Reilly continued to apply pressure and had several margins up his sleeve turning for home.
He looked to have the race won with 100m to go, however, promising stayer Ladies Man was able to call on his qualities to pip Sagunto at the post for a half-neck victory.
Co-trainer Peter McKay was pleased with the run but admitted to being slightly disappointed at losing the race right on the line.
“It is disappointing when you get dive-bombed in those last few strides, but he has been running out of his skin lately,” McKay said.
His Group Three placing follows victory in the Gr.3 Manawatu Cup (2300m) at Trentham last month and a runner-up result in the Listed Marton Cup (2200m) at the Upper Hutt track last week, and McKay said the addition of blinkers has worked wonders.
“He likes to free-rein a little bit. In his early races we used to put the pressure on a fair way out. He breathes a lot better,” McKay said.
“He got a little lapse on it late last season, so we put blinkers on him. Shaun did try to get a couple of softer sectionals going into the back straight yesterday, but he started to pull hard, so he let him do his own work.
“I have always said not to look back, just do whatever the horse is happy with. It is a hard one, but it all but paid off.
“We had them parked up behind us turning for home and it took Ladies Man, the (Wellington) Cup (Gr.3, 3200m) favourite, to run him down.
“He is not putting himself too high up in the ratings and he is picking up some nice prizemoney.”
Sagunto does not hold a nomination for the Wellington Cup in a fortnight, so McKay is contemplating backing him up at Pukekohe this coming Saturday in the Collinsonforex Karaka Cup (2200m) instead of paying the late nomination fee.
“In hindsight, I should have put a nomination in for the Wellington Cup. It is about a $7,000 late entry, so by the time you pay that and the entry, it is $10,000. That is a bit harsh,” McKay said.
“I asked the question why it was so high when the Group One on the same day is only a $1,900 late entry. It doesn’t make much sense.
“But as long as he gets through it alright, he will go to Pukekohe. He cleaned everything up last night, he just seems to travel away so good.”
Depending how Sagunto performs at Pukekohe, McKay is contemplating a trip across the Tasman with his gelding.
“There is not a lot for him,” he said. “I did do a little bit of homework last night to see if there were any 2400m or 2500m races over in Melbourne in the next month. I just want to see how competitive he is against a better lot of horses.
“I would rather spend my $10,000 to go over there than run around here in a Group Three.”
McKay finished the Trentham card on a high when Wolfgang recorded a one length victory in the Blue Star Premier (1600m).
“It was good to see him step up. He had a bit of a funny old season. Twice he has been to the races and they have been called off,” McKay said.
“We tried to get him ready for the Dunstan and everything kept going wrong. I pressure cooked him to get to the 2200 as a lead-up, but it didn’t work out for us. Hence why we freshened him up and he won quite nice. “He has always had the ability, it is just a matter of him doing things right. He is going to turn into a nice horse.”
