Branxholme trainer Alister Blacks feels he’s finally making headway in getting Get Lucky back to full health.
The five year old gelding rewarded his trainer’s patience when he won at Cromwell today. There was a bit of a gap between his last win (Oamaru May 2019 as a three year old) and this one.
“He got crook and I couldn’t get him healthy but I think we’re starting to head it off now. He seems very bright and happy within himself,” Black said.
Get Lucky had a number of small niggly health issues and Black says he has high GGTs.
“We don’t really know why he suffers. We’ve done all sorts of tests on him. Trying to work out his workload having high GGTs has been hard. I’ve had to experiment this year and I think I’m on the right track.”
Black wasn’t prepared to disclose how he’s got on top of the problem.
“That’s my trade secret. They can all work it out for themselves.”
Due to Covid Get Lucky had only two starts as a four year old. “We had to pull up stumps and start again.”
This season he’s started ten times prior to today’s run having taken out four seconds and two thirds. Today he was handled by regular driver Brad Williamson.
“It was an absolute peach of a drive. To come out and then drop back down. It surprises me why he hasn’t got a full book every meeting.”
Owned by Lindsay and Ian Thomson Get Lucky is out of the unraced Sundon mare Bree.
Meanwhile Black was very happy with Vintage Cheddar’s run in the Cromwell Cup.
“He started off forty metres, he was fresh up and Brad came back in and said it might have been a different story if they’d gone five to ten seconds quicker, because it was really only a dash up the straight.”
Vintage Cheddar got within half a length of winner Plutonium Lady.
“They ran home (on the grass) in 28.6 and he didn’t quit.”
Unfortunately the Omakau race meeting had to be cancelled due to heavy rain but Black’s hopeful the Omakau Cup will be rerun. This will be the next likely target for Vintage Cheddar.
“I heard they may run it on the 20th (January) at Winton. He’s also got the Invercargill and Northern Southland Cups and the Summer Cup at Addington. Later on the Easter Cup. It looks as though he’s going to be here for the New Zealand Cup next year which is even better.”
By Bruce Stewart