Racing: Gelding ready to step up distance

Bulginbaah posted his first win over 1400m at Otaki on Saturday but don't be worried when he steps up to 1600m at his next start, says rider Jason Symes.

Bulginbaah's win in the $16,000 Porirua Club Cup was his first at 1400m from six attempts.

All of the horse's previous seven wins had been at the shorter 1200m distance.

The Starjo five-year-old gelding is now likely to tackle the $35,000 weight-for-age Wanganui Stakes (1600m) at Wanganui on June 3 and Symes could not have been more adamant when asked if the horse would see out the distance.

"Definitely. No question," Symes replied.

Bulginbaah, a warm favourite on Saturday, came from mid-field to reach the lead early in the run home and scored by three-quarters of a length.

Symes said it was the horse's class that shone through.

"He only does as much as he has to," Symes said.

"I had no cover and he's a real thinker. I had to slap him up at the half-mile (800m) just to keep his mind on the job.

"He was never travelling like a winner but in the end it was just his class."

The win was Symes' fourth since he returned to riding on April 1.

He previously spent 18 months on the sidelines after encountering weight problems. The 24-year-old rode 70 winners when apprenticed to Kevin Gray at Waverley.

Symes said he missed the excitement of riding.

"I just enjoy doing it. It's a great adrenaline rush," he said.

Bulginbaah is owned by his 78-year-old Wanganui trainer Kevin Cropp in partnership with sister Margaret Cropp, friend Janice Pine and his former apprentice Catherine Wilson.

Wilson, 31, gave up riding about five years ago when she lost several teeth after being kicked by a horse.

"I was just picking out the horse's hooves - and that's the last thing I remember," Wilson recalled.

Wilson, who owns a half-share of Bulginbaah, bred the horse in partnership with Ken Cropp who she described "as like a father to me".

Second on Saturday was Woodbury Lane, who stormed home from last, and a length away third was Daniel Samson.

A nose back fourth was Rat Tat, after going to the lead in the early stages.

A useful sixth was topweight Zvezda, who was having his first start for eight months after being retired with a tendon injury.

Zvezda loomed up at the top of the straight but weakened over the concluding stages to be little more than three lengths from the winner.

- NZPA