Port Macquarie gelding O’Driscoll, aiming for three wins in a row in the $27,000 XXXX Gold Hannam Vale Cup (1600m) at Taree on Monday, has forged a special bond with Port Macquarie jockey Peter Graham.
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Since the five-year-old gelding spelled at Graham’s Lake Innes property and he has been the regular jockey, the two have posted three wins at their past four starts, the other start resulting in a fifth in the Kempsey Cup over 1450m.
“They are obviously getting on well together,” trainer Tas Morton said.
“My horse is a happy little fella.”
Morton said the spell had seen a dull coat on O’Driscoll develop into a shiny one and “both are surprising me” as to their form.
O’Driscoll has been winning up to 1506m on his home track and takes on 1600m in the cup at Manning Valley Race Club’s TAB meeting on Monday but Morton is still keen on his gelding’s chances as he believes the galloper will get over more ground and be likely to tackle country cups over 2000m.
“He is bred to get more ground and I always thought he would be at his best when four or five.”
The opposition is strong and two of his rivals have won cups over 1600m.
One is Grafton seven-year-old mare Cash Spinner, trained by John Shelton for Taree’s Gary Rollings, which won the Krambach Cup over 1610m in October, 2016.
The mare has been tackling rich country races at Grafton and Coffs Harbour during their carnivals and because she gets back in her races has found traffic problems. Shelton said Cash Spinner in winning three races at Taree over 1600m showed she had an affinity with the track.
“Her last run (beaten 2.81 lengths over 1305m at Ballina on December 7) was a bit short but she did hit the line well.
“She is in fine fettle and Gary is looking forward to seeing her race well.”
The winner of just over $166,000 will be ridden by Matthew McGurren.
The other distance rival is seven-year-old Kempsey gelding Fastquest, trained by Vince Jones, which won the Krambach Cup here in October.
It was just behind O’Driscoll in the Kempsey Cup, was second behind Camayoc over 2012m at Port, before being beaten about 5.5 lengths over 1850m at Newcastle just over a week ago.
At Newcastle, Fastquest was about 15 lengths back on the turn before running home well.
Krambach Cup winning jockey Grant Buckley renews his association with the gelding on Monday.
“My horse seems to go well for him,” Jones said of his galloper which has notched two of his four wins at the distance.
