Interdominion star A G’s White Socks could book a ticket to Australia if he continues his form resurgence in the Central Otago Trotting Cup today.
The Greg and Nina Hope-trained pacer would have been a leading contender in Tuesday night’s Auckland Cup had he stayed north after his Interdominion campaign. Instead, the chance to avoid standing-start racing and the possibility of an Australian trip mean Omakau racegoers will get to see him in the 2000m group 3 feature free-for-all.
"The reason we brought him down was to have a go with him at Omakau and then make our mind up about him going to Australia," Greg Hope said.
"We also didn’t really want to put the horse through standing starts again. They are not his forte and we just felt we could undo things if he went in the Auckland Cup."
The Hunter Cup at Melton would be A G’s White Socks’ main aim should he book an Australian trip.
Reverting to mobile racing and a change of feeding regime enabled the 6yr-old to bounce back to his best form with two Interdominion heat wins before his commendable fifth in the series final.
He has not started since that effort behind Ultimate Sniper.
"He had about five days off after the final and then he flew back down and I have been pretty pleased with him since," Hope said.
"He has worked nice."
The form of most of his rivals comes through two races.
Heisenberg beat Jazzy Star and Nandolo to win last week’s Ashburton Cup.
Vintage Cheddar sprinted past Franco Santino and Swamp Major to win the Wairio Cup days before.
The Hopes have a team to follow today. Luella looks a strong chance in race 11, following her third behind talented fillies Sugar Loaf and Pearl Harbour at Winton on Tuesday.
Mossdale Art was a brave mile (1609m) winner in the smart time of 1:53.7 at the same meeting. The 4yr-old will take on a talented field in race 9.
Bev’s K One starts for the stable in race 2 after two solid trial performances.
