Hasselhoof has quickly established himself as one of the most popular horses in New Zealand and Australian racing fans will get their first look at the Tavistock gelding at Royal Randwick on Saturday after he was included in the Gardenia Handicap field that was released this morning.
Ruling Dynasty (pictured) is one of a number of talented horses that are set to take on Hasselhoof in the Gardenia Handicap. Photo by: Steve Hart
Hasselhoof made his racing debut with a comfortable win in the Cowley’s Hire Centre Maiden (1400m) at Ruakaka on June 13 and he won his seventh start by an incredible 11 lengths at the same venue.
He added three more wins to his racing resume in comfortable fashion before he made his black-type racing debut with an outstanding victory in the Group 2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day.
Hasselhoof’s performance in the Rich Hill Mile convinced trainer Donna Logan that he was worthy of a trip to Sydney for an autumn campaign and the leading Kiwi trainer is delighted with the cult hero ahead of his Australian racing debut in the Gardenia Handicap.
“I couldn’t be happier with him,” Logan told Racing Ahead.
“I am hoping that he travels well and coming over here is only a three hour flight, so it is pretty good.
“He is still so dumb and he is learning still, so it is incredible to see what he has done especially in that Group 2 field.
“That was the real acid test for him and he measured up, so who knows what potential he has.
“The way he keeps stepping-up is pretty exciting times.
“You are never confident when you have a picket fence that has got six white pickets in front of it and we are going to get beaten at some stage, but he is well and I am just excited to have him over here and see what he can do.”
Hasselhoof will likely be included in the nominations for a number of races during The Championship that will be released next week, but Logan does not have any set plans with the four-year-old.
Logan said she is just keen to get Hasselhoof settled in Australia and if he comes up she will only start looking towards some bigger races with the potential star.
“At this very point in time we just want to get him in and settled, know that he can travel, try and make it to a different type of horse.
“He is going to tell us how he is coping with it and if he is not coping then it is easy enough to turn around and go home.
“There are so many opportunities here in Australia and it is not like we have to have a hard plan for him.
“I just want to tick the boxes first and then we will start planning what his capabilities will be.”
Hasselhoof is set to take on the likes of Beyond Thankful, Red Excitement, Ruling Dynasty, Arab Dawn, Bull Point, Great Esteem and Libran in the Gardenia Handicap.
