Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Stand and Salute is a late maturing stayer and has steadily been improving as the distances get longer. This is his first racing preparation and he has competed on 4 occasions with most recently a sterling effort at Wyong on a Heavy track where he finished 2nd beaten 0.3L when Corey Brown rode him.

Today, with Corey contemplating frogs legs and snails over in France, the stable has elected to claim 2kg by employing the services of Tim Bell for the trip. Last time Corey felt the heavy surface was not to his liking, so the slightly drier conditions at Gosford today should be an advantage for the 4yo.

Being his 5th run this time in, he will be spelled after today's engagement, so we are hoping that he can go out on a positive note. Trainer John O'Shea mentioned "He has done a tremendous job this preparation, and he has come a long way from where we were 6 months ago. He has overcome a few hurdles earlier in his career and hopefully a bit of patience and tender loving care will culminate in a victory for him before he heads to the paddock". "His work last week was a step up again from what he has previously done, so if that is any indication, he should be fighting out the finish at Gosford" O'Shea commented.

Stand and Salute is a fine looking individual and being out of an O'Reilly mare, this well bred gelding should be able to improve with the distances and his age.

Good luck to all his owners today at Gosford.