Australian Derby Deadline Looms

Gingernuts (3 g Iffraaj - Double Elle, by Generous), the horse purchased by Te Akau principal David Ellis for $42,500 that now has over $1 million in the bank, is preparing for the $2m Australian Derby (Gr. 1, 2400m) on Saturday at Royal Randwick in Sydney.

The stunning Avondale Guineas (Gr. 2, 2100m) winner who franked the form in the New Zealand Derby (Gr. 1, 2400m) and started tongues wagging across the ditch after beating their best three-year-olds in the Rosehill Guineas (Gr. 1, 2000m) is now favourite ($3.80) for the glamour event.

Owned by the Te Akau Gingernuts Syndicate and trained by Stephen Autridge & Jamie Richards at Matamata, Gingernuts has been accompanied by Richards since arriving there on March 13.
After winning the Rosehill Guineas, Richards reported that the main requirement over the next fortnight was to keep Gingernuts happy, healthy and sound.

“He hasn't needed a lot of work since then (Rosehill Guineas),” Richards said. “He's not a heavy, gross, good doing sort of colt. He's an athletic, clean-winded gelding. He hasn't taken too much work; did his normal sort of work on Saturday and will have a hit out on the course proper tomorrow (Tuesday) at Randwick, hopefully with one of Gai's (Waterhouse) and that should tidy him up nicely for the end of the week.

“He's held his weight really well, actually. He lost about six (kilos) after the run and put the majority of that back on. Looking at him, he certainly looks fit but you wouldn't say he's too tight or too lean. He's held his condition well, in my opinion,” he said.

“Everybody that looks at him or sees him walking up to the pool, or whatever, in the afternoon always comments on how great he looks. In my eyes, he certainly looks very well. He's held his summer coat really well. It's still nice and warm over here, so the way he looks you've certainly got to be happy with the horse.

“We're mindful that he's done a bit of travelling. When he races in the Derby it will be his fourth run in eight weeks, so he has been busy, but he is certainly coping with it all very well.  We haven't had any problems. He's been sound every day. He was shod this morning, so I think everything is on track for Saturday.”

The Randwick track is currently rated Heavy8. Fine weather is forecast until Thursday lunchtime when 35mls of rain is expected in ten hours. Thereafter, only a few millimetres of rain are forecast for Friday and Saturday. Long range track conditions could be slow, which having won both the Avondale Guineas and Rosehill Guineas on rain-affected ground is unlikely to be problematic for Gingernuts.

Bloodstock agent Phil Cataldo, who first bought Gingernuts as a weanling, said after he won the Rosehill Guineas: “It was another high-class performance, very impressive, and maybe he did have a little bit of fitness edge on some of the others but you wouldn't want to be on anything else in the Derby, that's for sure”.

“He always looked like a horse that was above average but not necessarily the potential champion that he looks like he might be. At this stage, he's got to be (Champion) Three-Year-Old of the Year and could well be Horse of the Year.”