Racing: Tower has vibe of Indikator

Storming The Tower, left, storms home to beat Gentil Tonton in the $75, 000 Rotorua Cup. Photo / NZME

Storming The Tower could start down the path of doing an Indikator, although he may be leaving it a touch late.

His determined Rotorua Cup win Saturday might be only the start of the Cambridge stayer's best form.

Okay, he's seven, but the remarkable Indikator won his second Rotorua Cup at that age in 2010. He came back a year later and failed to handle a very sticky track under 58.5kg.

He made up for that by winning the cup again in 2013 under 59kg as a 9-year-old and under the same weight with a stunning fourth victory as a 10-year-old in 2014. Between those wins he made one appearance over hurdles at Ellerslie, winning as he liked.

Part-owner and trainer John Bell has an eventual hurdling career in mind for Storming The Tower. The big gelding has had a slightly odd career form path. The exceptional promise he showed early did not eventuate and he went winless for three years.

There are horses that don't fully mature physically until five or six and Storming The Tower could be one of them. Also, the extensive schooling Bell has given Storming The Tower has probably helped make him solid. There was certainly no shirking in a tight three-way finish to Saturday's feature and his best form looks to be in his future.

Staying ranks in the last season or so have been far from strong and there is no reason Storming The Tower could not mix hurdling with staying handicap races.

Two weeks after Indikator won his fourth Rotorua Cup he took to hurdling again, winning at Hastings then three weeks later taking the Awapuni Hurdles. He finished sixth in the Australian Grand National Hurdles and was retired when he went slightly amiss while being brought up for a possible fifth Rotorua Cup victory.

There was two victims in Saturday's Cup. The consistent Chop Chop Suey had to be put down after rupturing a suspensory ligament in running and winning jockey Vinnie Colgan was stood down after his hard ride to land Storming The Tower home narrowly suffering from dehydration.

No report on the race would be complete without mention of the courage of topweight Authentic Paddy in finishing third, beaten a long neck and a nose under an impossible 60.5kg. He didn't flinch under the 6.5kg weight concession he gave to Storming The Tower.

Illuminati jumped well on Saturday from her inside gate to track the pace and rider Trudy Thornton said she had no worries during the running and a runaway win in the Listed Rotorua WFA Stakes.

"She travelled well and I got to the outside turning for home and she did the rest. She gives her heart and soul and it's a terrific result."