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New Zealand Racing News
Tuesday, July 24 2018

Mark Oulaghan will be keeping tabs on the opposition and the weather before confirming the new season programme for Shadows Cast.

The Awapuni trainer has entered his stakes winner in both the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) and the Gr.1 Windsor Park Plate (1600m), but he will be taking a realistic approach.

“He’s got nominations for those first two days at Hawke’s Bay, although that could be a fraction too rich for him so we’ll see a bit nearer the time whether we go there,” he said.

“It’s undecided and it will all be influenced by the weather anyway. He hasn’t had a gallop yet and we’ll get him going in the next couple of weeks.

“He could have a trial at somewhere like Foxton. The problem these days is that a lot of the racing is at Palmerston North and Trentham and they are heavy winter tracks.”

Shadows Cast has won seven races with his career highlight a shared victory with Son Of Maher in last year’s Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) and Oulaghan again has an eye on the Riccarton spring feature.

“He would probably run in the Captain Cook Stakes and go back to Christchurch for the Coupland’s,” he said.

Meanwhile, Oulaghan could be making an earlier trip to Riccarton with Upper Cut, who has triumphed in the last two editions of the Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge Grand National Steeplechase (5600m).

The son of Yamanin Vital opened his current campaign with a run on the flat and a fifth placing over hurdles at Wanganui. He will make his third appearance in the Lawnmaster Amateur (2100m) at Trentham on Thursday.

“As long as he gets through that okay, he’ll go straight to the Koral Steeples,” Oulaghan said. “He’s well and has done a lot of work.”

Oulaghan’s other runner at his home meeting is Counter Attack in The Hanley Formula Maiden Steeplechase (3200m).

“I hold my breath with him. He’s been a bit disappointing, we’ll have to see how he goes and assess it from there,” he said.

Posted by: AT 04:40 am   |  Permalink   |  Email
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