19 Nov 2017
Peter Lock is playing the waiting game with his quality Tavistock galloper Hiflyer.
The Te Aroha trainer had Saturday’s Gr.2 Tauranga Stakes (1600m) on the five-year-old’s programme but decided to pull the pin following his lead-up gallop.
“He had a good hit-out and I watched him work closely. I know him pretty well and he didn’t quite finish off as well as he can,” Lock said.
“He had a good blow afterwards so I’m just giving him a bit more time. He looks good and his blood is perfect, but when you go into a Group Two against those older horses you’ve got to be 110 per cent and I think he’s 95 per cent.”
Hiflyer has won seven of his 17 starts and at his most recent appearance he was successful in the Gr.3 Thompson Handicap (1600m) at Trentham.
“He came home from Wellington a tad tired so he had six days in the paddock and he did extremely well, the best he has and he got away on us a little bit,” Lock said.
“We rode him a bit handier, a bit out of his comfort zone, and he kicked on very well.”
Lock, who enjoyed success at Tauranga on Saturday with Patricia Anne, is now considering a run in the 1600m open handicap at Pukekohe on Saturday.
“If we go that way it will give us two weeks before the Captain Cook Stakes,” he said. – NZ Racing Desk