Former New Zealand-trained galloper Desert Lightning(NZ) (Pride of Dubai) is nearing a return for new trainers Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman.
The five-year-old gelding finished second in an 800m jump out at Pakenham on Tuesday behind his high profile stablemate I wish I Win.
A winner of five of his 18 starts including the Gr.1 TAB Classic (1600m), Desert Lightning also won the lucrative Aotearoa Classic (1600m) last summer but was a disappointing ninth in the All-Star Mile (1600m) won by Pride Of Jenni.
With his previous trainers retiring, connections were keen to chance their arm in Australia.
“His previous trainers Peter and Dawn Williams retired in New Zealand at the end of the season and I’ve known them for a long time,” ,” Moody told Radio TAB.
“I know the Greens (of Barneswood Farm), the ownership group that controlled Desert Lightning and they decided they’d like to give him a throw up the stumps in Australia.
“He’s a Group One winner and his rating sits up there. So he’s probably got to be aimed at a race like the Toorak Handicap (Gr.1, 1600m) or the likes of that.
“But you’ve got to be open-minded to coming back a peg or two if he’s not going to quite be up to those. He’s getting a little bit longer in the tooth now and we will just let his form dictate what path he might take through the spring.
“He looks a very nice horse and he’s got a win over Legarto to his credit, so I don’t think he’s to be taken lightly wherever we head with him.”
