Sydney Cup winner The Offer continues his low key Melbourne Cup preparation when he lines up in the Listed $150,000 Wyong Gold Cup (2080m) at Wyong on Friday.
The Offer. above, heads back to the provincial circuit to run in the Wyong Gold Cup. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.
The Offer was one of eight stayers trainer Gai Waterhouse entered for the Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 3 when nominations closed today.
Waterhouse’s other Melbourne Cup entries are Bohemian Lily, Bonfire, Cafe Society, Excess Knowledge, King Kinshasa, Pornichet and Zee Zeely.
The Irish import showed his true staying potential with a dominant win in the 2014 Group 1 $1m Schweppes Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick but was unable to win another race until Waterhouse took the gelding to Hawkesbury for a first up win in the Listed $100,000 XXXX Gold Hawkesbury Rowley Mile (1600m) on August 20.
Top jockey Blake Shinn was aboard The Offer at Hawkesbury and was glad to see him back in the winner’s stall especially under the impost of 61kg.
“It is fantastic to have a horse like this back,” Shinn said.
“It is a lot of hard work to get a horse that has been off the winners scene for a while and full credit to Gai and the staff.
“It didn’t work out as Gai hoped, we wanted to be positive early but it was evident I couldn’t be there, so with the weight I just let him settle.
“With the weight I made a decisive decision to get on my bike and I knew that he was a staying horse and we had stamina on our side.
“He did a great job to keep going.
“Hopefully he can get back to that level and get another Group 1 on the board.
“It is great to see him back.”
The Offer has been asked to carry 1kg more in the Wyong Gold Cup and will lead the field out with 62kg on his back and the ‘First Lady Of The Turf’ is keen to head back to the provincials.
The seven year old stayer is flying on the tracks and Waterhouse has posted on her website as The Offer being one of the best track workers on Tuesday morning and is tipping him to be hard to beat in the Wyong Gold Cup.
“Josh Parr’s best of the morning was the last start winner The Offer who really was one of the standouts of the morning. The Group 1 winner looked magnificent in his work over 1400m which culminated in an 11.3 seconds for his final 200m. Highlight this gelding’s name in your black book as he heads into the Listed Wyong Gold Cup on Friday,” Waterhouse wrote.
Waterhouse has also nominated European import Cafe Society for the Wyong Gold Cup and the six year old has been handicapped with 57.5kg.
