In Brief
- Brighton trainer ready for racing return.
- Bulbasaur and Little River Boy likely to back-up the following week.
- Pontypaul gives stable something to cheer about.
Friday’s Hobart trial session represents the last opportunity for trainers to give their horses a public workout before the return meeting in Launceston on 14 June and Brighton trainer John Luttrell will be among those looking for a final tune-up.
Luttrell will take six down the highway from Brighton, though his horses have had plenty of work even prior to the resumption of trials just over a fortnight ago.
“I’ve kept the work up to them, kept the staff going here. There’s only a couple of horses here that needed a trial or jump out, but I’d say 90% of them are ready to go,” said Luttrell discussing the readiness of his team for a return to racing.
Luttrell isn’t known for having many runners at the pointy end of the market but is happy with the status of his team leading into next Sunday’s Launceston meeting.
“I think I’ve got the strongest team of horses I’ve had in the last three or four years,” said Luttrell who’s 11 winners for the current season sits just outside the top 10 on the Premiership table.
The team Luttrell takes to the trials on Friday will include a few horses he hopes will race in Launceston the following week.
“I’ll be nominating a few horses for Launceston, but I’m hoping Bulbasaur can run in the 1400-metre maiden.
“He ran a really good fourth before this (Corona) virus set in and he’s had a spell and come up really good.
“He’s trialling Friday as will Little River Boy and he’s going really good.” Luttrell said.
Pontypaul (Gary Lo) wins in Launceston.
Three-year-old Lucky Bucky ran good time at the Hobart trials last Friday and is another that Luttrell hopes will gain a start in Launceston next Sunday.
“I ran him as a two-year-old and he was a little bit green and he pulled up shinny in Launceston.
“We’ve always had a high opinion and we’re very happy with him,” said Luttrell on his galloper who had a pair of unplaced runs as a two-year-old.
Despite not having any racing in Tasmania for over two months, Luttrell had something to cheer about on Wednesday when a former charge of his Pontypaul took out the last race at Gawler in South Australia.
The five-year-old mare mixed her form in Tasmania and Luttrell joked about the price he took on the mare to win Wednesday’s Class 2.
“She’d run a couple of good races, then all of a sudden she’d put a couple of bad ones in.
“I took $14 about her the night before and she ended up paying $18 so that’s how good a punter I am,” laughed Luttrell.