Newcastle trainer Rod Ollerton has some hard decisions to make with Rosehill winner Royal Tudor.
The $400,000 Provincial Championships in April is a major carrot but Ollerton has to be careful where he places the three-year-old to preserve his eligibility.
Royal Tudor
His win in Saturday’s 1500m benchmark 69 was his fourth from eight starts with the provincial series open to Class Five horses.
“I might give him one more start this time around but we have to consider The Championships,” Ollerton said.
“He’s got a good record and he’s still a bit raw.
“But we need to think about whether he might race himself out of the provincial series.”
For now Ollerton is happy to savour the win although he had to wait a little while for the photo-finish to show the horse had beaten More Than Fabulous by a short half head.
Jockey Christian Reith was a little more certain.
“I was pretty sure I’d got there,” he said.
“He’s still pretty green but very tough.
“Rod and I have been close friends for a very long time so it’s good to win for him.”
