Grande Gallo’s victory doubly pleasing for Wexford Stables
Grande Gallo's (NZ) (Belardo) victory in the Waihou Tavern 1150 at Te Aroha on Thursday was doubly pleasing for her trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott.
The win has put her on track towards a black-type tilt later this month, while it also brought up the 300th career victory for jockey Masa Hashizume, who has had plenty of success donning Wexford Stables’ silks.
Te Aroha’s six-race card on Thursday was instigated after their King’s Birthday Monday meeting was abandoned due to gale force winds, which blew over several sections of the running rail.
The weather wasn’t on the club’s side on Thursday either, with heavy showers resulting in the track being downgraded to a Heavy10, providing testing conditions for the mini meeting.
Grande Gallo was the best away in her event, pinging out of the gates under Hashizume before drifting back to settle in the one-one behind Palmerston North gelding Lucullan.
The pack worked their way out towards the better footing out wide when turning for home and Hashizume presented his charge towards the extreme outside, alongside Honey Badger.
The pair entered a dogfight down the home straight, but it was Grande Gallo who got the bob on the line to win by a head, with a further five lengths back to Gospodin in third.
“It was a great effort,” Scott said. “Especially in these conditions, she certainly galloped well in it.
“Masa did the right thing and got wide, held onto her head for as a long as he could before he let her down in it.
“She is a fit mare now and she is proving to be a really consistent racehorse, she has been wonderful for us.”
Scott was also rapt for Hashizume in bringing up his milestone.
“Masa just told me it was his 300th winner, so he is pretty stoked about that,” he said.
The five-year-old daughter of Belardo has now won six of her 21 starts, and more than $237,000 in prizemoney, but black-type remains elusive, and it is something her trainers are looking to resolve by month’s end, with the Listed Team Wealleans Tauranga Classic (1400m) on June 27 looming as an obvious target.
“We would put some consideration into it (Tauranga Classic),” Scott said. “We would love to get some black-type with her because she hasn’t got any.
“We contested it (Tauranga Classic) with her last year and she just found the conditions a bit too tough that day. Hopefully she can put in a performance where she can get some valuable black-type.”
Meanwhile, Wexford Stables will head to Ellerslie with half a dozen runners on Saturday, including last start runner-up Uderzo in the Trackside.co.nz 1400.
“He is on the back up from last weekend where he raced well, and he has raced well at Ellerslie,” Scott said. “He loves seven furlongs and he comes into it with a nice weight (54kg).
“Warren (Kennedy, jockey) knows him well and he will put in a good performance, he should race well.”
Scott is also looking forward to the debut of juvenile colt Judy’s Smarties in The Lawn Shed 1200.
The son of Sword Of State has impressed at the trials, placing in two before winning his last public hit-out over 900m at Taupo last month.
“He has got good levels of education, he has got a nice draw (2), he is a real improver,” Scott said.
“We think he is going to put in a really respectable debut. We are looking forward to him running and we are hoping he is going to make a really nice three-year-old.”
Of his other runners, Scott is particularly upbeat about the chances of Ivy’s Dancer in the Golf Warehouse 2100.
Initially first on the ballot, a scratching has allowed the daughter of Contributer into the race, and Scott believes she will be hard to beat.
“Ivy’s Dancer is racing really well and her form is strong,” he said. “The horse (Heza Sharp One) that won her race last start has gone on to win again.
“She gets around Ellerslie and she is a promising stayer in the making. We are pretty confident that she is one of our better chances of the day.”
