Staying Prospect Sebrose on Track

The NZ Racing Desk/The Informant report:

Former Singapore galloper Sebrose (main picture) remains on target to tackle at least two of the major summer cups.

The son of Sebring and the 2003 New Zealand Oaks winner Bramble Rose won five races in Singapore for Mark Walker before he transferred to Te Akau's Matamata operation to chase domestic staying features.

He was unplaced over a mile on debut for trainers Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards at Te Rapa but he has progressed well with the outing.

“It was only a mile and he had topweight so we claimed on him,” Richards said. “It was a good day out for him and he has improved nicely.”

Sebrose will step up to a middle-distance tomorrow when he runs in the Fritz Reuter Immigrants Stratford Jubilee Cup.

“It's a nice race for him but we were a bit surprised he got lumped with 60 kilograms and we wouldn't want the track to be too hard,” Richards said.

“He'll probably have one more run and then we'll go the Avondale Cup and the Auckland Cup. He's been doing all his work with Zambezi Warrior and they're both two nice staying horses.”

The stable had accepted with five horses at the Stratford meeting, including the promising pair of Gingernuts and Spritz, who will resume in the 1200 metres - (note - Spritz has been scratched due to the firm track).

“It looks a winnable race for Gingernuts and we'd be disappointed if he wasn't in the top three at least,” Richards said.

The three-year-old was runner-up to his stablemate Hall Of Fame on debut last season and then went one better at Hastings before a break.

Speaking of Hall of Fame - the NZ racing Desk/The Informant also report ...

Quality three-year-old Hall Of Fame is thriving ahead of a Group One test at Trentham.

He pleasantly surprised his connections when he beat his age-group opposition when resuming at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

“We thought he would have needed the run,” said Jamie Richards, who prepares the son of Savabeel with Stephen Autridge.

“He's pulled up really well and taken a lot of improvement.”

Hall Of Fame, who has won four of his eight starts, is the current $4 second favourite for the Gr. 1 Randwick Meats Levin Classic on January 14 behind the $3.50 market leader, the unbeaten filly Volpe Veloce.