Trainer Tracy Green is hoping The Sixties can confirm he has overcome his confidence problems by landing his second successive win at Doomben on Saturday.
The Sixties, who lines up on a heavy track in Saturday’s Woolworths’s Open Handicap (1200m), ended a 15-month winning drought when successful at Eagle Farm last month.
Affectionately labelled a “little bantam rooster” by Green, The Sixties had endured a testing time since his previous win at Eagle Farm in October 2010.
“He’s only a little bloke who stands about 15 hands and every time we put him in a decent race he got smashed,” Green said.
“He was a scared little boy and he’s still frightened of some horses on the track.
“When he pulls up after trackwork the rider has to turn his head away from the other horses to stop him from being frightened.
“He lost his way for a while and lost confidence and he’s always been a confidence horse.”
Apart from the buffetings he received in many of his races, The Sixties also suffered from an airway disease.
“The airway disease was a bit like asthma in humans so we tipped him out for a spell and he came back fine,” Green said.
Green believes the addition of blinkers contributed to The Sixties’ victory last start and helped him overcome his inferiority complex.
“We put blinkers on him once as a three-year-old to get him to overcome his problems,” Green said.
“We tried just about everything to get him mentally right and it was only the second time he wore blinkers when he won last start.
“Hopefully he’s over all those problems. He’s now like a little bantam rooster and pumps himself up like one and thinks he’s pretty special.”
Green has cleared The Sixties to start on the heavy track despite drawing barrier 15.
“He loves the wet and there looks to be enough speed in this race for him,” she said.
“He’ll be hard to beat if he can get over and get some cover.”
The Sixties has won nine times in 36 starts and Green is still hopeful he can win a feature race in the future.
“All the buffetings he got last time seemed to come in the bigger races for some reason and I’m still hoping he can win a decent race,” Green said.
The Sixties was taken to Grafton last July and performed creditably for sixth to Jerezana in the 1200-metre Listed Ramornie Handicap.
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