Lightly raced galloper Tasman Park is giving away experience to his rivals as he looks to extend his winning record at Sandown.
Tasman Park is set to contest the Thoroughbred Club Australia Handicap (1600m) on Saturday after success at his only two previous starts at Bendigo and Sandown.
Saturday’s benchmark 70 grade race has brought together a field of 11 starts with Tasman Park the most inexperienced of the field.
Artika and Barretta have both faced the starter on seven occasions and are closest to Tasman Park in the least number of runs while He’s The Real Deel is the most experienced with 30 starts under the belt.
Tasman Park took time to make it to the track after the Mike Moroney stable purchased him off the back of two trial wins in New Zealand as a three-year-old.
“He didn’t get going until late as he needed a bit of time,” Moroney said.
“I saw him win a couple of trials and we were quite impressed with him, so we ended up buying him.
“We gave him a bit of a break when he came over as there wasn’t much of him, then started off fresh.
“He’s got some nice ability. He continues to work really well, and he shows on the track that he’s got the ability to be quite a smart horse.”
Both of Tasman Park’s starts have come on tracks with give in them, but Moroney does not see the likelihood of good ground on Saturday being a disadvantage.
Tasman’s Park’s most recent win came on a soft track over 1300m on November 16 at Sandown.
“He looks like he will get a bit further on quicker ground, so we’ve stepped him up to the mile for that reason after looking as though he has wanted it a bit shorter,” Moroney said.
“He is bred to be a 2000-metre horse, plus. He’s out of a pretty stoutly bred family on the dam side.
“We’re in no rush with him, we’ll just build him up and let him tell us where he’s capable of getting to.”
