Michelle Bradley picked up where she left off from last season when scoring a winning double at Ruakaka on Saturday.
The local trainer bookended the eight-race card courtesy of Good Time Garry and Current Surge, making a flyer to the new season in the process.
“The last meeting, on the 15th of July, to get two winners on that day was a fantastic way to end the season and yesterday was even better to have two winners and quinella the first,” Bradley said.
“Five of the seven runners we had in yesterday finished in the first four. It was a terrific way to start the new season.”
Both Good Time Garry and Rustic were having their first outings for the stable and Bradley was rapt to get the quinella with the pair in the Ruakaka – NZ’s Best Bet In Winter (1600m).
“They were first time runners for me and I freshened them both up knowing they were pretty fit,” she said.
“Good Time Garry has been racing in blinkers and he is a horse that needs blinkers to concentrate. Just watching him work, I went for the preferred option of putting the visor blinkers on to help him focus and also be able to see the field behind him. I think that helped a little bit.
“Having a rider (Sam Weatherley) come out that has the same intentions of how you want the horse to be ridden without needing to talk to them is a bonus as well.
“I took the blinkers off Rustic. I wasn’t too sure how he was going to go, but we rode him cold and he hit the line well.”
Bradley was also impressed with Current Surge’s winning performance to close out the meeting in the 19 Aug Cambridge Stud Northland Breeders’ Stakes (2100m).
“He has been knocking on the door,” she said.
“His last race in the stayers final wasn’t actually that bad. I watched the replay a couple of times and he was right there until the last hundred and he just couldn’t keep going with them.
“He prefers to come through the field rather than around them and that’s what we did yesterday and he got to the line really strong. He’s a big improver and I think there is another one or two in him.”
Last start ITM/GIB Whangarei Gold Cup Stayers’ Final (2100m) winner Bosch continued his good run of form when third in the Mountfield Quarry (2100m), but will now head for a freshen-up ahead of spring racing.
“I think he hit his peak in his last start,” Bradley said.
“He still tried hard and put in 100 percent, but he will go to the paddock for a couple of weeks and we may look at running him in September."