Unexpected season finale for Lupo Solitario
Last start Group Three winner Lupo Solitario will get an unexpected season finale at Ellerslie on Saturday in the JRA Trophy (1600m).
Trainer and part-owner Danica Guy’s initial plan was to send him for a spell following his victory in the Gr.3 Easter Handicap (1600m) at the Auckland track last month, but several factors fell into place at an opportune time to give him one final run before heading for a break.
“It was unexpected that we would be giving him another run but just with this run of really good weather has meant that I have been able to keep him on the training track, which I didn’t think I was going to be able to do,” Guy said. “This race came up so we are having a crack at it.
“He gets in well at the weights (56.5kg) with Mark Brosnan paying up with his horse (Diamond Jak, 59kg with apprentice jockey Joe Nishizuka’s three-kilogram claim), so that is going to be to our advantage.
“I put the nomination in and I don’t know if I would be running him if he got topweight, so I was quite pleasantly surprised to see one in that was that much higher (in rating) that pushed our weight down to a more manageable weight.
“The horse is well and happy and ready to run a race.”
Win, lose or draw, Guy said Lupo Solitario will head for a spell after Saturday.
“This was an afterthought, so he will definitely have a break after this,” she said.
A day later, Guy will head to Te Rapa where she will line-up Denver in the Foy And Halse Lawyers 2200.
“I am looking forward to running Denver on Sunday,” Guy said. “I think the track at Ellerslie tripped him up last start, he looked on the corner like he was going to run away and take the race out, but he just battled when Erin (Leighton, jockey) let his head go and the track was quite shifty that day and he just didn’t seem to like it.
“It looks like we are going to get a nice surface on Sunday, so I am hoping for an improved result. He has drawn really well (3), so he will go forward and put himself in the race, I think he will run well.
Looking ahead to winter racing, Guy said her racing team will be light, but she is looking forward to campaigning Cleat over the colder months.
The eight-year-old gelding impressed first-up in March when winning over 1150m at Te Aroha, and he is set to return to the track at the start of next month.
“It looks like there is a bit of rain around at the end of next week, which will suit him,” Guy said. “Hopefully it is a rinse and repeat of his last run at Te Aroha – same distance and same track.”
