KEY POINTS:
Trainer Adrian Bull is in line to win a another major Wellington trophy at Trentham this season after the win of Butch James in the Wanganui Cup on Saturday.
Butch James went into the $75,000 open class handicap over 2040m at Wanganui the winner of just two races and looked to have no chance when badly placed on the inner early in the short run home.
Rider Robert Hannam somehow managed to find a gap through a wall of horses and Butch James charged through, going on to score by half a length as a $13.20 seventh favourite in a wide, open betting affair. It was the second important win for the combination of Bull and Hannam this season.
Last month, they combined with Skirmish for an upset victory in the group two $100,000 Wellington Guineas (1500m) for 3-year-olds at Trentham.
Skirmish was given a break after being unplaced in the One Thousand Guineas at Riccarton this month but Bull reported the filly would return to training within a fortnight.
At the top of her agenda in autumn is the group one $350,000 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) in March.
Bull also has a Trentham feature on Butch James' agenda - the $350,000 Wellington Cup which has been controversially reduced in distance from 3200m to 2400m and downgraded from group one to group two status.
"That's where we are definitely aiming," Bull said on Saturday night.
Butch James, despite his lack of wins, has good credentials for the Wellington Cup.
The Volksraad 6-year-old gelding won his maiden race at Trentham in 2005 and is proven at the cup distance with a second placing in last January's Summer Cup (2400m) at Trentham.
Bull, who shares in the ownership of Butch James with his wife Robyn, said the horse appreciated the big Trentham track and was now at the stage to take the next step up.
"He's such a big horse - Trentham suits him," Bull said. "He's only just maturing now. He's taken a while to become strong enough."
Butch James was of average height, at about 16.2, hands but was "pretty solid", said Bull, who trains at Hunterville, about 50km north of
Palmerston North.
His only concern on Saturday was that the horse was having just the third start of his present campaign.
"Being such a big horse, I wasn't sure if he was quite hard enough."
Bull said the key races in Butch James' lead-up to the Wellington Cup are likely to be the Manawatu Cup (2300m) on December 20 and the Marton Cup (2200m) on January 10.
Butch James was bought by the Bulls for $40,000 at the 2004 National Yearling Sales in Auckland.
Saturday's winning stake of $42,970 took his earnings to nearly $128,000 with a record of 30 starts for three wins, eight seconds and six thirds.
Second in the Wanganui Cup was Ferreira, who raced about sixth on the inner, one place ahead of Butch James,
while a nose away third was Jonbalena who finished strongly out wider.
There were 1 lengths to fourth-placed Antipodean, who made the pace, and a head to Heza Gangster fifth. A useful sixth was Kaapeon Way who came from second-last with 600m to run.
Favourite Three Chimneys was a battling eighth after getting back in the running, while second favourite Ombre Rose, another to get back early, beat only one of the 16 runners home and would be sent for a spell.
- NZPA
