Moruya preview: Joe Cleary has King Gutho ready to shine in Kosciuszko audition
Kosciuszko hopeful King Gutho could elevate himself from ‘possible’ to ‘probable’ within the space of a minute when he adds some star power to Friday’s Bodalla Bowling Club Town Plate (1010m) at Moruya.
King Gutho is currently priced at $51 with TAB Fixed Odds to win the $2 million ATC Kosciuszko (1200m) at Royal Randwick in exactly three months.
The Joe Cleary-trained gelding’s emerging cult status guarantees him the focus of attention when he resumes in the hotly-contested Benchmark 74.
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“I am really happy with him,” Cleary told The Daily Telegraph.
“He has had a really good base. He had a jumpout at Moruya two weeks ago. He just went down and back in the day.
“He jumped out with Kattegat, they went to the line together and he has done well since.
“It just got the competitive juices flowing in his brain again and all his characteristics around the stables are really good.
“He tells you when he is ready and he also tells you when he has had enough.”
King Gutho, a $50,000 Cleary purchase at the Magic Millions, will edge closer to $200,000 in earnings if successful on Friday but the race is as much about the future as it is finance.
“It’s just a stepping stone to try and get him in the Kosciuszko,” Cleary said.
“If he races all right on Friday, he will head to Randwick on the 29th, there is a three and four-year-old Benchmark 72 over 1100m and then I will either tuck him away hoping to get a ticket in the Kossie or I won’t produce him until the Thunderbolt at Queanbeyan on Queanbeyan Cup Day.”
Cleary will also use Friday’s Moruya meeting to open what shapes as an equally but suitably ambitious long term campaign for the young and untapped Hurricane Coni.
Raised in Queensland by Typhoon Tracy’s owner/breeders, the Hutchins family, the three-year-old son of Nicconi ranks as another fruitful Magic Millions Yearling purchase by Cleary.
This one knocked down for $45,000.
“Hurricane Coni will be my Country Championship horse,” Cleary said.
“So he is only in for a short, sharp preparation as well. He is in for a two or three run preparation and then he’ll be put back out and we’ll have a look at him at the back end of the spring and into summer.
“He has just been a work in progress so we have been patient with him.
“He has really good owners and I think they are going to reap the rewards by being patient.
“He is on an upwards spiral physically and mentally. He was always a really wiry sort of animal but he now he is starting to build up into nice frame.”
Cleary’s legion of fans will have their ‘stable anchor’ of the day in the striking shape of Soul Lady who will step out for just the second time in the AOR Cranes and Rigging Maiden Handicap (1200m).
The daughter of Widden’s up and coming and already proven young stallion Supido was the undisputed eye-catcher when she clocked in second on debut at the tricky Queanbeyan circuit on May 14.
“I know there hasn’t been a great deal of form to come out of that Queanbeyan race but she was in the worst part of the track and hit the line good while being inexperienced,” Cleary said.
“She had a jumpout down there at Moruya on the same day as King Gutho and won it quite convincingly.
“She is a really promising filly and has a bright future.”
BOOTSCOOTER POISED TO KICK UP HIS HEELS WITH HOME TRACK WIN
Home-ground advantage could be the key for Rodney Northam-trained duo Bootscooter and Leggy Point to march back in the winners’ stall in the nation’s Horse Capital on Friday.
Northam’s pair have racked up plenty of miles in their respective current campaigns.
Both horses made the 7-hour, circa 600km, round trip from Scone to Sydney on June 24 returning home with varying degrees of success.
Bootscooter’s honourable fifth in the Benchmark 78 was her third consecutive Randwick appearance within the space of a month.
“I thought she ran okay last start in Sydney and this is a nice race for her as well. She likes Scone as well so there are a few positives there.” Northam said.
“She can hit a bit of a flat spot at the 600m so I am just hoping that (jockey) Chelsea (Hillier) can ride her through that and get her into the clear in the straight and she will finish off hard.
“If she didn’t win, I think there is an 1800m Highway coming up in a few weeks’ time which would suit her and if she did win, I think there is a mare’s race on the same day or nearby so there are two options.”
Stablemate Leggy Point, meanwhile, was responsible for one of the most emphatic and impressive wins at Scone all season when she rushed past her rivals to win by six lengths at the venue on June 13.
Such was the manner of her win, Northam was prompted to test the filly at Highway level 12-days later.
“She ran well in the Highway (but) I was expecting a little bit more off a good win the start before,” Northam told The Daily Telegraph.
“She will appreciate the home track because I don’t think she travels that well.
“She has got ability but she is a bit of a thinker as well at the same time so if the right horse turns up she could nearly do it again.”
Northam will break out one of his many sets of Frampton family silks to hand to frequent wearer Grant Buckley when Hammoon Sky resumes in the opener.
“He is going in without a trial so he will be improved by the run but I expect him to run a nice race on his home track,” Northam said.
“He has had a nice jumpout but just the last 50 metres is a bit of query fitness-wise.”
