29 May 2018
Hard Merchandize will head north to Te Rapa early in the new season in a bid to double his Group Two winning tally.
“He’s back in the stable and not far off having a gallop,” trainer Gary Vile said. “We’ll keep him ticking over and head toward the Foxbridge Plate.”
Winner of the Listed Castletown Stakes (1200m) at two, Hard Merchandize returned this season to win the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) and finished third in the Gr.2 Sarten Memorial (1400m).
The son of Burgundy was sent for a spell after a respectable seventh in the Listed Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m).
“He hasn’t done anything wrong and he’s definitely grown and strengthened, he’s the sort of horse whose better off in the stable,” Vile said.
-NZ Racing Desk