Bosson To Ride Daffodil
- Thursday, 03 September 2009 02:15
Opie Bosson will ride class mare Daffodil in a 1200m sprint at Wanganui on Saturday, with her regular jockey Hayden Tinsley unable to make her weight of 55kg.
Trainer Kevin Gray said Tinsley was likely to ride Daffodil in her first major assignment of the spring, the $NZ220,000 Windsor Park Plate at Hastings on September 19.
"But he can't make the weight this Saturday," Gray said.
He opted not to run Daffodil in the first leg of the Hawke's Bay triple crown, the $NZ220,000 ($A177,741.87) Mudgway Stakes last Saturday, not wanting to flatten her ahead of a big season, with a Melbourne Cups campaign in the offing.
He said Daffodil was in good condition. "She galloped very well at home this morning."
Gray said 1200m might be too short for her and she faces an unsuitable heavy track but he expected her to be running home well, with Bosson to be instructed to settle her back in the field.
"They are likely to be going flat out early in the race," he said.
Daffodil, winner of the AJC Australian Oaks in the autumn, was on Wednesday allotted 51.5kg for both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.
Gray said he had no complaints about that but would have to find a new jockey again as it is too light for Tinsley, Bosson and Hugh Bowman who rode her to victory in the Oaks at Randwick.
Daffodil will race in the $NZ1.2 million ($A969,501) Kelt Stakes (2040m) after the Windsor Park Plate and would have to race well in that to confirm her Melbourne trip, Gray said.
Picture - Sportpix
