Coup South is one of the hurdling finds for the future - except he may not have a future.
The Canterbury-trained jumper has dodgy legs, which is why he is attacking tomorrow's $70,000 Great Northern Hurdles a year earlier than his trainers would prefer.
Coup South goes into New Zealand's
biggest hurdle race with just four jumping starts behind him.
"He's been having a few leg problems," said co-trainer John Parsons.
"We've been managing to hold him together and we thought we'd better have a crack at the big one this year because there may not be a next year."
The fact that Coup South is in his first winter of jumping sits on Parson's mind, but he is prepared to override that with his opinion of the horse.
The gelding has also not raced at anything like as far as tomorrow's 4190m.
"But I'd be disappointed if the distance of this race tipped him up."
Coup South had his first look at racing right-handed in the jumpers' flat at Tauranga last week and found the tight bend out of the home straight a little awkward, but then so do quite a few horses. Getting around Ellerslie should not be a problem.
His four jumping races have all been on winter tracks, but he managed to win at least three races on the flat on decent ground.
"A wetter track might have played into his hands, but it's the same for many of them."
Parsons feels the stable's second runner Penny Rose may be coming to the end of her preparation.
"But she earned her place in the field in finishing third to Just A Swagger in the Grand National.
"That was a creditable effort, but whether she's quite as good as she was at National time is open to question. She's been to every dogfight around."
