A quick phone call to leading Victorian apprentice Damien Thornton convinced trainer Gary White to tackle the $40,000 3YO Classic in Launceston on Sunday with his promising youngster Meconsul. And he was glad that he did after the gelding comfortably accounted for Village Green and a luckless Just Call Me Fred. Meconsul had won three of his previous four starts — two with Thornton in the saddle — but had not been successful beyond 1220 metres. White wanted Thornton’s opinion on whether the horse could handle the step up to 1400m.
“I nominated him for three races on this program but as soon as Damien said the extra distance would be no problem, I decided to run him in this one,” White said.
After the win, Thornton said Meconsul would have no trouble running 1600m. White prepares Meconsul for owner Barry Cooper.
“It’s good to win a decent race for Barry because he puts a lot of money into thoroughbred and harness racing,” the trainer said.
By GREG MANSFIELD (Examiner)