Equal Caulfield Cup favourite Gingernuts is likely to have his lead-up races in New Zealand.
The Rosehill Guineas winner has surprised his trainers Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards with how well he has returned from a short spell.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a horse improve as much as he did,” Autridge told NZ Racing Desk.
“He’s put on forty-kilos with his spell at Te Akau Stud and since he came back into work in May he’s been bouncing around like a two-year- old.
“We’re rapt with the way he’s going and the way he looks. He has certainly improved.
“He’s a horse that won the Avondale Guineas, our Derby and the Rosehill Guineas and wasn’t under any stress to win them so we wouldn’t know what we’ve really got next season until we step him up against the best older horses.”
Autridge said the plan was to give Gingernuts the first of two trials on August 1.
“We’re thinking he could run on the last two days of the Hawke’s Bay carnival and then go for the Caulfield Cup, but at the same time we are at the stage of looking through Melbourne programs and we’ll take into account the path that recent Caulfield Cup winners have taken,” he said.
Gingernuts is at $15 in the Sportsbet’s early Caulfield Cup market alongside Hartnell and Humidor.
