Sandringham Summit will be bankered by some in the Gr 2 TAB Hawaii Stakes (JC Photos)
Racing Today’s Vicky Lerena spoke to trainer David Nieuwenhuizen about the favourite for the Gr 2 TAB Hawaii Stakes over 1400m, the three-year-old merit rated-123 Gimmethegreenlight colt Sandringham Summit.
The colt was shown to be full of beans in video footage of him enjoyong himself with his groom in a paddock.
David said, “He won the Gr 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes very impressively and we obviously thought highly of him after that win, it was a great race to win. A lot of the horses from that race have not gone on with it, but he has gone on with it and has strengthened up.
We’re taking him down to the Durban season again a year later and I think he’s going to do really well for himself.
He’s strengthened up but being a colt he’s got slightly more difficult as well, but he’s maturing really nicely and it’s now time to go up against open company.
We’re confident for Saturday but we are coming back down from 1800m to 1400m and he’s one of the few horses who is coming down in distance.
Obviously it makes it more difficult, the other guys are more sprinters going towards a mile, we’re coming back in distance so it makes it tougher to freshen him up again.
Four Hundred metres is quite a bit further in trip, but he’s a really good horse so we expect him to do really, really well.
The horse I think who will peak is Lucky Lad and we’re giving a bit of weight to one or two others.
There are three three-year-olds in the race and they have to step it up now, it’s open company, but I’m pretty sure he can equip himself well.
He pulled up very well after the SA Classic, he actually pulled up better than when he won so well the previous time.
Gavin knows him and has learnt a lot of his little traits that he carries.
In the Classic we had to go and fetch and there was no horse to travel through with us, so he had a lot of hard work to do from far off the pace.
The pace is going to be on over 1400m and he will have to pick it up quite early.”
