By Mike Dillon
Ray Bishara has got it down pat what to do about a Queensland winter campaign for Native Chief after to-morrow's $20,000 L&P Cup at Paeroa.
"If he wins he definitely goes," said Bishara yesterday.
"If he runs second I'll think about it, if he runs third I won't know what to do and if he's fourth or worse he stays home."
So the prospect of a Queensland winter jaunt is entirely over to Native Chief.
Bishara is delighted with the underrated gelding's condi-tion, his only concern being the 58kg joint topweight.
But the genuine chances start at 53.5kg, and with 4.5kg up to the topweight, Native Chief does not look too badly off as the winner of 10 races.
Bishara had been hoping to use last week's Te Rapa meeting as a guide for the $A81,000 Labour Day Cup at Doomben on Monday week, but pulled the horse out when conditions became too wet.
"If he goes OK on Saturday I still might consider starting him in that race. The next flight over isn't until the day before the race, but if he travelled well and settled in I'd think about running him."
Alternatives are the Chairman's Handicap at Doomben or the $A200,000 Hollindale Cup on the Gold Coast.
Skimmer is underrated and comes into this race better off than when a luckless seventh to Bexley at Ellerslie last start.
She carried 57kg at Ellerslie and drops to a more comfort-able 53.5kg and should get her favourite easy conditions.
The Paeroa track was hovering around a penetrometer reading of 3.0 yesterday with little likelihood of improving from easy to firm.
Co-trainer Jim Gibbs is keen to give Easter winner Oregon Power his first start past 1600m before spelling him and was another who pulled out when the track got heavy at Te Rapa.
If he can produce the same finish at 2000m he shows at 1600m, he is going to be a big middle distance winner.
Horse racing: Cup bonus for Chief
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