The connections of The Grey Goose had a healthy payday when the daughter of Reliable Man took out the $200,000 Southern Mile Final (1600m) at Wingatui earlier this month, and they are hoping she is on target for another.
The Jo-Ann Gordon-trained four-year-old gained a golden ticket into next month’s $350,000 Southern Alps Challenge (1600) at Riccarton with her last start victory and will head to Riverton on Friday to see if she is up to the mark.
“She needs to put on a good show before we go to Christchurch,” Gordon said. “If she is disappointing then she will just go to the paddock, you wouldn’t go up there unless you were in with a pretty good show.”
The Riverton track was rated a Heavy 10 on Thursday morning and Gordon said that will be to her mare’s liking.
“It looks like it is going to be a Heavy 10 at Riverton on Saturday, so that will mean they don’t go quick early, so she should find it easier to keep a bit closer to the field,” she said.
“She seems to run on any track and the wonderful thing she has got is that very good turn of foot.
“She is as bright as a button and enjoying the rain. I am happy with her going into the race, but it is a step-up in class.”
That step-up in class is Gordon’s major concern ahead of Saturday, labelling 11-win mare Emanon as their biggest threat under the set weights and penalties conditions of the race.
“With them all being on the same weight, I think Emanon will be very hard to beat. But we still expect The Goose to go a good race,” she said.
A Gavelhouse.com graduate, The Grey Goose has won four of her 12 starts to date and nearly $180,000 in prizemoney, but Gordon expects there is more to come from her mare.
“I think the owner paid $2,000 for her as a weanling off Gavelhouse. We had the half-sister (Mother Goose) that we really liked but she got hurt in the paddock. He has had a very good return on his $2,000,” she said.
“She is a really nice horse and she is just that much stronger this year. In my opinion, she will be a better horse next year because she is just not quite there yet.
“She goes well over a mile, but I think in time as she gets stronger again, she is going to be better suited to 2000m, especially on the firmer tracks.”
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