Hawke’s Bay or Australia next for Gingernuts

Bring on Aussie.

That was the call from the legion of fans who cheered home equine cult hero Gingernuts after he powered to victory in the Windsor Park Plate on Saturday.

The Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards-trained chestnut and jockey Opie Bosson came with a booming finish to reel in Close Up to grab victory in the second leg of the Hawkes Bay triple crown.

The win does not mean Gingernuts’ trainers will have time to relax with cup of tea, as Autridge and Richards will be kept busy preparing the glamour galloper for a possible clash with a horse with a cult following of her own in Winx.

However, Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis yesterday confirmed that before he crosses the Tasman, the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup-bound Gingernuts will return to Hastings on October 7 for the Livimol Classic, the same day Winx lines up in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington.

Richards expects to see an even better Gingernuts as his campaign progresses.

"The horse still isn’t 100% in the coat just yet," he said.

"He’s a staying type of horse and to win over a mile [1600m] at weight-for-age as a 4yr-old is a great effort."

Bosson shared the opinion that Gingernuts’ fitness would improve after his win, but the jockey also expects the veteran of only 11 starts to get better with more racing.

"There’s so much improvement left in him," he said.

"I was a bit worried when he started gawking around and he only knuckled down when the other horse came at him.

"He’s an exciting horse and he’s still learning his trade."

Unlike his terribly unlucky fresh-up run in the Tarzino Trophy, Bosson and Gingernuts received all of the luck they could have asked for in transit on Saturday.

"I got in behind Kawi and he gave me a beautiful track into the race," the jockey said.

The chestnut did get a little wayward in the straight as runner-up Close Up tightened Kawi out of his run, but the interference was not significant enough for stewards to sound the siren.

Australian bookmakers were quick to react to Gingernuts’ win as they brought him in from $17  to $13 for the Caulfield Cup.

The David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig-trained Harlem booked his place in the Caulfield Cup with a runaway win in the 2000m Naturalism Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.

Harlem also moved into a $13 Caulfield Cup quote after winning by more than three lengths over  stablemate Samovare.

Sydney’s feature race, the $A1 million ($NZ1.08 million) Golden Rose at Rosehill, was won in an upset by the Gerald Ryan-trained Trapeze Artist.

The $34 outsider and rider Tye Angland ran away to win by more than four lengths from Champagne Cudd.

- Jonny Turner

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