A pair of brothers are set to back up at Wingatui on Thursday after disappointing at Riccarton on Saturday.
Raise You Ten finished fourth on the weekend and Brian Anderton, who trains the gelding in partnership with his son Shane, is expecting a better showing when he lines-up in the PGG Wrightson Real Estate South Otago Cup (1400m).
“I was disappointed with his run on Saturday, he didn’t finish on, he just battled,” Brian Anderton said.
“The jockey (Corey Campbell) said he didn’t handle the ground, it was pretty puggy.
“It should be nice and loose on Thursday. He’s come home and eaten well and there is nothing wrong with him, so I thought he could run again.”
Anderton said the son of Raise The Flag has struggled in the handicaps since his win in the Listed Gore Guineas (1335m) in 2017 and he is looking for some weight relief for the six-year-old on Thursday.
“He is a badly handicapped horse,” he said. “He has only won four races and he’s carried a bit of weight all the way through. He got penalised for winning the Gore Guineas, which is a set-weight race, and he has never overcome that.
“We are going for a three kilo allowance on him with (apprentice jockey) Rohan Mudhoo.
“I also think stepping back to 1400m will suit him better, he just seems to be lacking a bit at a mile.”
While Anderton thinks Raise You Ten is better suited to the lesser distance, there is a possibility he could have a tilt at the Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) in November.
“He’s nominated for the Coupland’s, but there are hundreds of others too,” Anderton said. “He’s going to have to step up to run in that.”
Meanwhile, his full-brother Raise You Five will also back-up on Thursday in the Congratulations Jackfrost 65 1600 after his unplaced run at Riccarton on Saturday.
“It was only a battler’s run on Saturday. But once again, the ground was a bit too puggy for him,” Anderton said.
“He’s a big, gangly sort of horse and we will back him up here and then we will rest him for a while, put him out and get a bit of summer grass in him. “Even though he is a five-year-old, he is going to be a better horse in another six months.”
