The reason for Skateboard’s buck jumping display at Warwick Farm remains a mystery and the five-year-old gets the chance to show his true colours on Saturday.
The favourite for a benchmark 80 race on January 7, Skateboard appeared to shy at the start and moved sideways before bucking with Ben Vassallo unable to stay aboard.
The stable apprentice to Skateboard’s trainer Guy Walter, Vassallo suffered a broken ankle in the incident and Skateboard was sent back to the barrier trials.
He started from the outside gate as directed by stewards in a 1200m trial at Warwick Farm last week and behaved impeccably, winning his heat with Rodney Quinn aboard.
Quinn will be reunited with Skateboard in Saturday’s benchmark 85 event over 1550 metres at Canterbury.
“I’m sure it was just a one-off thing,” Walter said.
“Maybe he shied at something. It’s not clear.
“He’s come through that and the trial fine so he will run on Saturday with Rod Quinn aboard.”
The Chris Waller-trained Thumbtacks, who won the Warwick Farm race, is among the 14 entries taken for the Canterbury event.
The Summer Sizzler (1250m) attracted just six nominations headed by multiple stakes winner News Alert.
The seven-year-old finished fourth as favourite in the Canterbury Classic last Friday week with runner-up Eight Bills also entered for Saturday.
It was his third run for trainer Joe Pride with his second producing a win in the Listed Razor Sharp at Warwick Farm in December.
Formerly trained by Con Karakatsanis, News Alert is rated at 105 with Eight Bills next at 93.
The two-year-old race on the program attracted 13 nominations including Jade Marauder who is first emergency for the juvenile race at Wednesday’s Gosford meeting.
AAP TURF
