Exposed Beaver to be even better with cover, say jockey, trainer
Matthew Chadwick believes Clever Beaver will race better with cover, but a wide barrier forced his hand and the Australian import was able to sit handy and break through in Class Three. "That was a good run from him today, we were a bit worried about gate 12 from the 1,200m start," he said. "We just didn't have many options from that gate, we had to jump and hope we weren't too far away. It's a good sign that he was able to hang on." Clever Beaver's trainer Tony Cruz said he expects sharp improvement from the four-year-old son of Shaft this season. "He wasn't in the best condition when he got here," Cruz said. "He is starting to look better now."
Five-year-old can get further, reckons trainer Hall
After completing one of the better patch-up jobs of last season with Hit A Home Run, trainer David Hall (pictured) says the five-year-old might still be on an upward trajectory after a tidy Class Four win yesterday. Hit A Home Run arrived with Hall in Class Five after a transfer, then won twice over 1,400m late last term and after winning first-up at 1,600m, Hall said he should get further in the future. "Knowing his racing style I was happy to get him up to a mile, and we might try him over longer later," Hall said. "He was a bit too good for them there. He is in a good frame of mind now. I think he is much more relaxed, going out there in a good frame of mind and the results are showing."
Schutz relieved to finally break his duck after six meetings
Wins for Andreas Schutz and Dennis Yip Chor-hong have left three trainers stranded on the dreaded "duck egg" of zero wins, and Schutz admitted it was a relief not to be one of them. "I didn't want to be the last trainer with a nought," the German said after D'Or Wongchoy won a Class Four, the three-time winner in New Zealand having dropped from a mark of 73 in 13 starts last season. "He ran a couple of decent races in Class Three, and he is more mature now. He didn't have much of a preparation coming into this, and was able to win anyway, so hopefully that is a good sign." Peter Ho Leung, Francis Lui Kin-wai and Chris So Wai-yin are the only trainers yet to win a race.
