The 2015 Newcastle Gold Cup is on the agenda for evergreen stayer Jetset Lad after he returned to winning form with a fast-finishing victory in the Listed Tattersall’s Mile (1640m) at Doomben on Saturday.
Jetset Lad was dropping back to 1640 metres after he finished fifth in the Listed Southbank Insurances Brokers Quality (1800m) at the Gold Coast on June 20 and he was slow out of the gates before he was settled just worse than midfield by jockey Paul Hammersley in the early stages of the race.
The Elusive City gelding tracked into the race nicely and he responded extremely well when asked for an extra effort by Hammersley to record a narrow victory from Little Brown Horse and Epic in the Tattersall’s Mile.
Colourful trainer Brian Smith admitted that neither he nor Jetset Lad are getting any younger, but he was thrilled to see the rising eight-year-old maintain the form that he showed during the 2015 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival and he confirmed that a trip to New South Wales for the Group 3 Newcastle Gold Cup (2300m) on September 18 was on the agenda for the tough galloper.
“Once a good horse, always a good horse,” Smith told the media after the race.
“I’ve got a hell of a lot of faith in him.
“This horse is thriving, imagine coming back from the Brisbane Cup to win over this distance.
“I have got a bit of age on me and this horse has got a bit of age on him, but together we are a good team.
“It’s just lovely for a bloke like me to be able to keep winning races.
“The Newcastle Cup is the race I have had in mind for him all along.”
Jetset Lad joined the Smith stable during the 2014 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival after previously being trained in New Zealand by John Wheeler and he has been a consistent performer over the past 12 months for his new trainer.
He finished within two lengths of Cluster in the Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens in September last year before he failed to fire in the Group 2 Shannon Stakes (1500m) at the same venue on September 17 and the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Royal Randwick on October 4.
Jetset Lad made a slow start to his 2015 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival, but he produced the best performance of his racing career to date to score an upset victory in the Group 2 Brisbane Cup (2200m) at Doomben on June 6, despite being caught wide throughout the race.
The popular gelding has now recorded nine wins from his 60 race starts and has accumulated almost $500,000 in prizemoney for connections.
