By Ray Hickson
Trainer Peter Snowden saw something in Touristic’s effortless Lord Mayors Cup win to suggest a repeat performance could be on the cards at Rosehill on Saturday.
Trainer Peter Snowden (Pic: Steve Hart)
With top weight Changingoftheguard compressing the weights for the Listed $200,000 Cincotta Chemist Winter Cup (2400m) it’ll only be a 2kg rise for Touristic despite earning five points for his breakthrough win.
It was his first win for just under a year and Snowden said the 2-1/2 length victory was a win of a horse right in the zone.
“It was good to see him pull right away,’’ he said.
“He could have just won and it would have been nice but to win with the authority he showed I thought it was encouraging going forward.
“It’s a pretty similar race, we’ve got a draw again and he should get a similar run and be hard to beat again.”
Snowden has his sights set on the Caloundra Cup on July 5 in mind for the import and while he’s yet to win at 2400m he made a good fist of it at his only attempt in that distance range.
It was in last year’s Grafton Cup over 2350m and he ran subsequent Group 1 winner Deny Knowledge to about half a length.
Andrew Adkins retains the ride on the six-year-old, $4.40 with TAB on Thursday, and Snowden said a soft track and another perfect draw give him confidence he can go back-to-back.
“He’s rock hard, you won’t get him any better than what he is at the moment,’’ he said.
“He’s as good as we can get him and his work has been sharp at home.
“Things fell into place for him last time, he had a good ride and the track was just right for him, the pace of the race suited him nicely.
“His first four runs were all on rock hard tracks, now he’s getting conditions to suit him it’s playing into his hands.”
The Randwick trainer is being very forgiving of King Of Roseau’s heavy track failure at Randwick last month and suggests he can bounce back to his consistent ways in the Captivant @ Kia Ora Handicap (1300m).
The three-year-old had chased home Raikkonen at Gosford in his previous start but didn’t pick his feet up at all when beaten 18 lengths three weeks ago.
“It was a really heavy track and he struggled the whole way,’’ he said.
“I knew my fate a half mile from home he wasn’t getting through it. Because he’s such a consistent horse the better ground on Saturday should see him run better.
“I gave him an easy week and he bounced right through it in about three days so it didn’t hurt him and his work has been really good. We should see a better version.”
Hopper and Wave Breaker have wide barriers to contend with in their assignments and Snowden said he’ll look at what options are around before committing to starting either.
A mile race next week appeals for Hopper if he doesn’t line up in the Racing And Sports Handicap (1400m), Snowden said he’d like to target the Group 3 Winx Guineas next month but it’s important the gelding posts another win.
Touristic wins the Lord Mayors Cup
“He‘s definitely come back a better horse than last time by a long way. Both runs have been solid,’’ he said.
“The draw was a bit soul crushing when I saw it. There is an option to wait a week and run him in a three and four-year-old 1600m next week, if his barrier doesn’t improve we have that option.
“I’d need to see a good performance from him in Saturday grade to go to the Winx.”
All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s Rosehill meeting