AFTER a two-year stint of training in Victoria John Blacker is back to reestablish himself in his home state.
But with the quality of horses he has brought back from the mainland he has delivered a warning that he has the artillery to make his presence felt on the Tasmanian trainer’s premiership table.
In Launceston last Wednesday night he produced a highly premising four-year-old in Coriace that won convincingly at only his third start.
He has found the winner’s circle seven times since moving back with the latest winner arriving in Hobart last Saturday in the form of The Producer that made it two wins from three tries on the Hobart circuit.
The Producer was so impressive with in-form apprentice Georgie Catania in the saddle Blacker has decided to head the flashy five-year-old chestnut to the Longford Cup over 1800 metres on New Year Day.
“I have always had a good opinion of this horse and the plan has always been to try him over a decent amount of ground so the Longford Cup looks a good option,” Blacker said.
“I know he’s never been over the trip (1800m) but he won over 1600 metres at Echuca in Victoria and the way he hit the line today I’d say he’s ready for the longer trip,” he said.
With Blacker’s horses stabled across the road from the Longford track there will be no effort needed to tackle the feature race on New Year Day.
“We just have to walk him across the road for the race so there’s no effort involved in getting him to the races and that will give him a bit of an edge,” Blacker said.