Local gelding to take new road at Cambridge
Graeme Cameron will be on a fact-finding mission when he heads to Cambridge’s synthetic meeting on Wednesday with his Group Two performer Dusty Road (NZ) (Shamexpress).
The local trainer has recently been working his gelding on the surface, which he said has been to his liking, so he has elected to give him his first synthetic start in the Caldwell Mortgage Advisers (2000m).
“I have never worked on the poly before, but I have been on that lately and Gareth Lahoud has been riding him, and he reckons he loves it, so I thought I would give him a go on it,” Cameron said.
It will be the rising seven-year-old’s second time over ground, with the son of Shamexpress being kept to sprint distances for most of his career, where he has placed in the Gr.3 Spring Sprint (1400m) and last year’s Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m).
While Dusty Road has had three runs this preparation up to 1200m, Cameron has been looking to test his charge over further ground, and he believes Cambridge’s midweek meeting provides the perfect opportunity.
“He looks like he is looking for a bit of ground, so it is a good time to try it out, and it will be better on that track than on a Heavy10 track,” Cameron said.
Cameron’s biggest concern heading into the race is Dusty Road’s 62.5kg impost, which will lighten to 60.5kg thanks to apprentice jockey Liam Kauri’s two-kilogram claim, with the gelding giving the majority of his rivals a 6.5kg advantage, with in-form mare Skymax his closest competitor with 56kg on her back.
Weight is also Cameron’s biggest headache when trying to map out a spring campaign for Dusty Road, and Wednesday’s performance could ease that burden, with the Cambridge horseman eyeing the last two legs of the Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival, particularly the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) on October 10, if his charge performs up to expectations.
“I am going to have to look at weight for age to get the weight off him,” Cameron said. “He would have to have a go (at the Livamol if he performs well), but we will get through tomorrow and go from there.”
