EURELL LINES UP SPRING OBJECTIVES FOR APACHE CAT

By Graham Potter | Monday, May 25, 2009

Trainer Greg Eurell’s decision to bypass the Stradbroke for the second year running with his dual Doomben 10 000 winner Apache Cat is as understandable as it is disappointing for those racing enthusiasts who love seeing a star in action.

Eurell has already proved that opportunities further down the line will take care of themselves if you take care of your horse. Apache Cat’s back to back wins in the Doomben 10 000 is testament to the success of that policy.

“No, we won’t be going to the Stradbroke,” confirmed Eurell, before explaining why he had made that decision.

“There are a lot of good calibre younger horses - and even a couple of older horses - that are very well weighted (in the Stradbroke). That just makes him (with 60kg) a sitting duck to get beaten. No we’ll pass on that. He’ll have a break now.

“There are some nice races coming up in the spring. Hopefully we can capitalize on those.

“It’s probably the focus next time in to see how he goes back over the mile,” continued Eurell. “He’s record is still very good over the mile, only that last year we focussed on the sprint races. You know, he’s a little bit older and he’s probably just indicating that the mile might be a stronger trip for him now.

“The mile would probably be the focus point at this stage ... and we’ll see how we go with that. He was in super order in Hong Kong last year. I think he was the best I ever had him. It just didn’t work on the day. He probably ran a similar race to what he did in the BTC Cup, sort of got home late. But he is probably going to be a bit better suited to a mile this time around. Hopefully he is, but we’ll try that out in the Spring and just see how he is going. Then we’ll decide on whether we take another shot at Hong Kong.”