Six-year-old Nohoaks, who was given no chance of racing because of a complicated foot injury, is making up for lost time with an exciting start to his career.
Trained by Alison Bennett, the Statue Of Liberty gelding has won two of his three starts and will be chasing his third win in a row when he lines up in Wednesday’s Betfair Handicap (1210m) at Sandown’s transferred meeting at Mornington.
Bennett said the foot issue had been ongoing for nearly three years and prevented Nohoaks from racing until June this year when he finished second in maiden company at Kilmore.
He has since won at Pakenham and Sandown and has moved Bennett to rate him potentially a better horse than his half-brother King Hoaks who won the 2009 Group Three Standish Hcp (1200m) at Flemington.
“He has only had three starts because of the foot issue which took so long to resolve, but I think if he had been sound he might have been the best (from broodmare My Nancy),” Bennett said.
“He is such a nice type and has a lovely temperament.”
Bennett said the foot problem resulted from a concussion injury Nohoaks suffered as a young horse and which resulted in a growing mass causing him to go lame.
After a series of veterinary tests a resolution was found and two operations and a couple of years later the gelding was on the mend.
The build-up to his first race campaign was slow but sure, starting with pre-training on the beach before joining Bennett’s stable where he has improved from start to start.
His leap from a maiden to a 0-82 class victory at Sandown underlined his above-average ability and Bennett believes there is a lot more improvement to come.
“He still doesn’t have much idea about racing and when he got to the front the other day at Sandown he wandered around a lot,” Bennett said.
“Originally I thought I would only get a couple of runs out of him because that is all you get with horses like him but he is no worse now than he was at start of this prep.
“It might be a bit stronger race on Wednesday but he seems to have done really well since his last run and we are just hoping for a bit more rain and a heavy track at Mornington.
On Tuesday the track was rated a slow (6).
“We know he handles the heavy ground and while we have these winter tracks we will keep him going,” Bennett said.
“He’s had a long time in the paddock and it is time for him to earn his keep.”
AAP TURF
