Champion jockey Opie Bosson’s post-race summation of Dragon Leap’s resuming run at Ruakaka on Saturday will influence the direction of the seven-year-old’s spring campaign.
Trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott didn’t consider taking advantage of an apprentice claim, preferring Bosson’s experience for the ride in the 9 Sep Alibaba’s Flying Carpets Kerikeri Handicap (1100m).
The multiple Group Two-winning son of Pierro finished a close second in the event 12 months ago behind high-class mare Imperatriz, who in a twist of fate was ridden by Bosson.
Dragon Leap is in good order for his return and even with topweight of 62kg, his class has to be respected.
“Opie knows him so well and will get off and give us great feedback on how the horse is going and how we go forward,” Scott said.
“The most important part will be analysing the horse’s performance and Opie will do that, he will let us know if we set our sights high or otherwise.
“We would like to go to the Foxbridge Plate (Gr.2, 1200m) and down to Hastings, but his form is going to have to warrant all that and we’re just going to take it one race at a time and see what happens.”
Dragon Leap hasn’t raced since a three-start Brisbane winter carnival with his best performance being a runner-up finish in the Gr.3 BRC Sprint (1350m) at Doomben, where he was partnered by Bosson.
“It’s really going to be interesting. He has sprinted well in the past and, hopefully, it will be no different on Saturday,” Scott said.
“He came home and had 10 days off before he came back into the barn. He didn’t have an overly taxing Queensland carnival, albeit with mixed results.
“He returned with good residual fitness and he looks really good in the coat and is a bright horse.
“We’ve just had to bring his fitness levels up a touch to get him up there. He’s in really good order and will parade looking forward and one of the better ones in the coat for sure.”
Dragon Leap is a possible Hawke’s Bay spring carnival contender and stablemate Asterix is another who could head south.
“Asterix may get to the last day for the 2040m race (Gr.1 Livamol Classic), he wouldn’t be competitive in any of the shorter races,” Scott said.
“He’s a year older and a bit stronger so he should hopefully be competitive in those kind of races.”
The Tavistock five-year-old has been sparingly raced due to foot issues since he won the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m).
In five subsequent outings, he has been successful at Pukekohe earlier this year and a solid fourth in the Gr.1 New Zealand Stakes (2050m) before he beat one runner home in the Gr.2 Chairman’s Quality (2600m) at Randwick.
“He went to Sydney and had a heart fibrillation and it was a day to forget so we put a line through that, but he is coming up well this time around,” Scott said.