TALENTED trainer Heath Szczypka takes a chance almost every time he sends his underrated gelding Costa Smeralda around in a race.
But it’s not that the gelding is injury prone it is that the eight-year-old does nearly all of his racing in claiming events.
So if Szczypka didn’t train Costa Smeralda for a stable client he openly admits he’d buy the horse himself.
“Of all the claimers going around at the moment, he’s the one I’d buy – he’s such a consistent little horse,” Szczypka said after Costa Smeralda chalked up his fourth win for the stable at Launceston last Sunday night.
Costa Smeralda has spent his racing life in many states and has been in the care of several trainers who have helped the gelding amass 15 wins and 20 minor placings from 126 outings.
Costa Smeralda is owned by one of Szczypka’s long-time clients Mark Rowland.
“Like most claimers, he’s not an easy horse to train,'” Szczypka said.
“That’s because most of them have got something wrong with them, so you can’t expect them to win all the time.”
“But this horse is very consistent. He’d run five seconds from his previous six starts and his other run, when fifth to Wayne Rooney in a discretionary handicap, was also pretty good. He was beaten only six metres,” Szczypka said.
Costa Smeralda, driven by Todd Rattray, came from last in Sunday night’s Annual Awards Dinner Claimer to beat Cool Card and Mighty Aslan.
Szczypka went close to completing a double with both Glory Is Illusive and Look Look.
Glory Is Illusive came from second-last on the home turn to be narrowly beaten by Transformer Man in the Mitavite Stakes while Look Look hit the front in the home straight but couldn’t hold off Bad Boy Vinny in the Bullock Consulting Stakes.
“Glory Is Illusive is doing a terrific job but is looking for a spell shortly,” Szczypka said.
“Look Look is a cheap horse that’s not far away from a win but he was disadvantaged a bit on Sunday night as a C0 horse racing against a C2 (Bad Boy Vinny),” he said.