It could be a big 48 hours for Correy Grenfell who has Tiggerlong Tonk in tonight’s G1 Hobart Thousand heats (461m) and Yozo Bale in the Group 2 Ballarat on Saturday night.
A genuine superstar, Tiggerlong Tonk ($1.50F) contests Heat 4 – Race 6 Box 8 – at 9.07pm.
Tiggerlong Tonk finished fifth to retired champion Hooked On Scotch in last year’s Hobart Thousand final, but Grenfell says “he’s a seasoned campaigner now”.
“He’s at his peak in terms of maturity and is a lot more consistent early and a lot stronger. We haven’t raced him since the Melbourne Cup. We’ve kept him fresh because a second crack at the Hobart Thousand has been the plan for some time.”
And Grenfell added: “I haven’t spoken to the owner about retirement. He’ll go through to the Australian Cup series.”
Bred and owned by Michael Finn, Tiggerlong Tonk (Feb ’18 Dyna Double One x Tiggerlong Dot) has raced 61 times for 32 wins, 10 seconds and six thirds, with $340,670 in stakes. He’s also won six of his past 10 starts.
Grenfell won the G3 Shootout at Sandown Park with Tiggerlong Tonk in a new race record (29.03sec) during last month’s Metro Festival of Racing. He’s also won the G2 Horsham Cup and is a six-time G1 finalist.