Evergreen gelding Gotta Take Care maintained his stellar form over the jumps to score a dominant victory in the Brendan Drechsler Hurdle (3200m) at Bendigo on Sunday.
Gotta Take Care was perfect over the jumps in the 2014 Brendan Drechsler Hurdle at Bendigo on Sunday. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Gotta Take Care was well-backed to score his third straight victory in the Brendan Drechsler Hurdle and the Rubiton gelding jumped from the gates quickly and was settled just behind Wells and Stand To Gain in the early stages of the race.
Jockey John Allen continue to stalk the speed during the 3200 metre journey and the nine-year-old responded well when asked for an extra effort to hit the front just before the penultimate jump before storming clear from the rest if the field in the final stages of the race.
Allen was quick to pay credit to the toughness of Gotta Take Care and the training performance of Darren Weir and revealed after the race that he was always confident that the tough stayer would score his fourth straight win over the jumps.
“He’s a marvel of a horse to come back here and win three years running,” Allen said.
“It’s a great job by the trainer and all the staff who look after him to have him in such great form three years in a row, it’s a great performance.
“I knew the two to beat were the two horses in front of me the whole way so I was happy with where I was.
“I always knew that I’d be sitting a bit handier today, the race worked out perfectly and when I asked him for an effort at the top of the straight he took off.
“When I got to the second-last there was nothing going to catch me.
“The crowd are obviously very appreciative of a good horse and he’s a damn good one.”
Gotta Take Care’s win in the Brendan Drechsler Hurdle was his third over the jumps during his winter campaign, after taking out both the Galleywood Hurdle (3200m) and The Australian Hurdle (3400m), and the rising ten-year-old is a chance of having one more start this preparation in the Grand National Hurdle at Sandown on July 13, but trainer Darren Weir said that he would wait until the races are released before he makes a final decision.
“We know he’s going to get a lot of weight, but if he gets too much we might just call it a season,” Weir said.
Gotta Take Care has now recorded 20 wins from 70 race starts and his win in the Brendan Drechsler Hurdle took his total prizemoney to over $1 million.
