“I thought his run on Sunday was very good, he carried a lot of weight and he was very diligent. I was very happy,” Thurlow said.
Allpress sported the red-and-white colours of owner-breeders Humphrey and Fiona O’Leary, the couple also dreaming of another Auckland Cup triumph after claiming the 2018 edition with the Allan Sharrock-trained Ladies First.
“When he (Whangaehu) came back from Australia, we spoke with the owners and they were very keen for us to try and get to the Cup, that was their wish, so we set on a path to do that,” Thurlow said.
“It’s been our plan for a while, but it was whether or not he was going to make the field, but it looks like we’ve made it.”
Te Akau’s Prise De Fer will contend with the 57kg topweight while Whangaehu will enjoy the luxury of the 52kg minimum and his regular rider in Allpress.
“Lisa will stay with him, he’ll have a significant weight drop which will help, but he’ll need all the help he can get in the Cup,” Thurlow said.
Before heading north, Thurlow’s talented filly No Rain Ever will prepare for her next black-type quest in the Cavallo Farm & Chris Rutten Bloodstock 3YO (1300m) at Otaki on Wednesday.
The daughter of No Nay Never made a bold statement with a barnstorming run into third in the Listed Uncle Remus Stakes (1200m) on February 17, Thurlow now determining whether the Group 2 Wellington Guineas (1400m) or the Gr.3 Cuddle Stakes (1600m) will deem more suitable.
“She’s come away from her Ellerslie trip very well, it hasn’t bothered her, and I think she’s come on from it. We’re really happy with her,” he said.
“She’ll probably go back a little bit in the running, but I’ll leave that to Craig (Grylls, jockey), he’s riding very well at the moment and knows her well. She certainly won’t lead, but he’ll find a nice spot from that gate (7) in a smaller field.
“All going well on Wednesday, she’ll go to Wellington next Saturday (16 March), but we’re just not sure which race she’ll run in. It could be that she runs in the Cuddle over a mile instead, we’ll make our minds up after the race.”
Stablemate Field Of Gold completes Thurlow’s pair at the Otaki meeting in the Vets On Riverbank Handicap (1600m), with apprentice Toni Davies providing three-kilogram weight relief from 62kg.
“I think he may still be a runaway, but I’m very happy with him, he’s progressing really well,” Thurlow said.
“He’s just taken a little bit longer to come up than we would’ve liked, but I was happy with his run at Ellerslie, he ran a really good race. Even though he wasn’t right in it, he didn’t give it away and kept trying hard to the line.
“This is a drop in class, we’ve decided to do that just to hopefully get his confidence up. If we can get him back on track, there’s definitely a good race in him going forward.
“It may be a race like the Hawke’s Bay Cup (Listed, 2200m), nothing is set in stone, but that could be a nice race for him further down the track.”
– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
