The Corey and Kylie Geran trained Nikau Spur will be looking to make it third time lucky when he steps out to contest the Toowoomba Cup on Saturday.
The now nine-year-old finished second in the last two editions of the event, coming home just a length behind Military Ruler 2023 before getting even closer in 2024 when beaten home by only 0.20 lengths by Red Wave.
Now Nikau Spur’s third Toowoomba Cup challenge is underway and, although he is currently quoted at $23, he certainly would not be winning out of place were he to salute on Saturday although it will be a tough task against several of his younger opponents, most notably the four-year-old race favourite Walsh Bay who will be bidding to make it four wins in a row.
Also contributing to Nikau Spur’s current long price is the fact that the form the chestnut son of Proisir carries into the race shows that he only placed once in seven starts in his last preparation.
It should be noted though that six of those runs were in feature race company … one Group 2 (in the Brisbane Cup), two Group 3’s (in the Chairman’s Handicap and the Premier’s Cup … in which he finished third) and three Listed races (the Brisbane Handicap and the Caloundra and Grafton Cups).
In his first-up run this preparation Nikau Spur was beaten by 3.47 lengths by the race winner Kronenbourg when carrying 0.5kg more than the Tony Gollan trained runner.
Thes two runners will clash again on Saturday where Nikau Spur will enjoy a 2kg advantage at the weights over his rival (n effective 2.5kg compared to their previous clash) … and he will now be chasing over a more favourable distance (up from 1630m to 2000m) and racing on his home track.
In the grand scheme of things Nikau Spur has plenty to overcome to be sure but, as a former winner of the Queensland Cup (over 2400m) and the $300 000 Beauford at Newcastle (over 2300m) … and the reigning Toowoomba Horse Of The Year … he certainly deserves a second glance as he looks to add to a proud race record in his fifty-first start … a record which up to has already brought nine wins and no less than twenty-two minor placings … with $757 707 banked in prize-money.
If that ‘third-time lucky’ arrives, nobody would say that Nikau Spur didn’t deserve to have a Toowoomba Cup win behind his name … not to mention the fact it would also provide the Garden City with a popular home-town victory.
