Homebred gelding Tobias (NZ) (Complacent) was a revelation for owner-trainer Tony Dravitzki last winter, and the Stratford horseman is hoping he can find a similar vein of form over the colder months this year.
The now seven-year-old son of Complacent won four races on the bounce last winter, including the New Plymouth Interprovincial (1600m), before running fourth in the Gr.3 Metric Mile (1600m) at Wanganui.
Dravitzki has been pleased with the way his seven-win gelding has come up this time in and is looking forward to kicking off his preparation in the Seaton Park 1400 at New Plymouth on Saturday.
“He has matured a bit more mentally. He is more settled in his work, he is quite an excitable sort of horse,” Dravitzki said.
“He is about where I want him, but he is going to take great benefit out of the run. Even though he has got a good fresh record, I don’t think he is 100 percent yet.
“The track conditions (rated Heavy8 on Friday morning) won’t be any problem and he has won about four races at New Plymouth, it’s a good place to kick-off his campaign.”
Depending on his first couple of outings, Dravitzki is weighing up two different paths for Tobias.
“If he is not up to the top grade, I would like to get back to the Interprovincial again, but if he is going alright, he may sneak into the Opunake Cup (Listed, 1400m), which is a bit short of his best distance, he is really a miler,” Dravitzki said.
While the winner of the Opunake Cup earns a golden ticket into the Gr.3 Winter Cup (1600m) at Riccarton in August, Dravitzki isn’t entertaining a trip south.
“I wouldn’t have any thought of going to Riccarton, it is just too far, and he would be coming to the end of his preparation,” he said.
Meanwhile, stablemate More To Be Written (NZ) (Wrote) is unlikely to gain a start on Saturday, being fourth on the ballot for the Landmark Homes 1600, and Dravitzki said he may need to be a bit creative with his targets in order to gain a start.
“He’s very well,” Dravitzki said. “His run wasn’t too bad at all at Trentham fresh-up, he was only three lengths off the winner.
“He is struggling to get a start. I may have to start looking to run him out of his grade just to keep him up to the mark.”
While finding a start is becoming problematic for More To Be Written, Dravitzki is excited about the prospects of his half-brother Inthemickoftime (NZ) (Time Test), who will head to the Foxton trials next week before returning to the races. “He was overawed by his first raceday at Woodville three weeks ago, so I am taking him back to the trials next Tuesday at Foxton to give him a trip away and a bit more education,” he said. “I have got quite a bit of time for him.”