A horse who took 12 months to convince potential syndicate members of his ability promises to ignite the career of a comeback trainer.
Destiny Rising, an acceptor at Canterbury on Wednesday, seems on the verge of giving Brian Gentle a breakthrough Sydney metropolitan win, given the obvious merit in his first race start.
Contesting one of the last Sydney two-year-old races of the 2011-2012 season at Warwick Farm last month, Destiny Rising over-raced near the lead but hit the front at the 200m before conceding only to the fast-finishing Urquidez.
“I threw him in at the deep end there and he ended up on the worst part of the track on a day which definitely suited swoopers like Urquidez,” Gentle said.
“I would expect him to take natural improvement from the run.”
Gentle said the Warwick Farm placing had generated overseas inquiries, completing a turnaround in fortune for trainer and horse.
“He’s raced on lease now but for 12 months no one wanted a bar of him because he is by God’s Own and I was taking my time with him,” Gentle said.
“But as soon as he ran third in a barrier trial at Randwick sitting three and four deep, they were climbing out of trees to be involved.”
Gentle is back in Sydney after training on the Gold Coast.
He left for Queensland in 2007 after working for John O’Shea during an era when the Randwick trainer enjoyed Group One success with horses like Racing To Win, Charge Forward and Private Steer.
Since his return, Gentle has been stable foreman for Tim Martin and Clarry Conners before landing a job as a pre-trainer at Cobbitty Lodge on Sydney’s western outskirts.
“I do a lot of pre-training, mainly for Guy Walter, but the opportunity came up to get my trainer’s licence again,” he said.
“I’ve got about a half dozen horses in work now.”
Destiny Rising will be one of the favourites in the Pluck @ Vinery Handicap (1100m) but Gentle wants to assess the depth of the field before deciding to commit the colt to a start from a wide draw.
“The barrier (twelve) is a factor and probably the weight scale is as well,” Gentle said.
“If he drew a gate he would definitely run but I’ll look at some tapes and go through the form before I make a final decision.”
Destiny Rising is also an acceptor for a three-year-old maiden race at Thursday’s Gosford meeting.
