Scone trainer John Ramsey is hoping a change of environment and some gear adjustments can trigger a form reversal from Glenall, who is nominated for the $1 million The Hunter at Newcastle.
Glenall is among 28 nominations for the provincial feature on Saturday, which was only introduced to the spring racing calendar last year.
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The stakes-winning seven-year-old joined the Ramsey stable earlier this month following a disappointing performance at Doomben last start.
The Ramsey Pastoral bred and owned gelding, under the training of the Hawkes stable, produced some handy performances over the Sydney spring carnival before having two starts in Brisbane for Kelly Schweida.
“He’d been racing good and it was only his last start that something went wrong,” Ramsey said.
“They said the (Doomben) track was a bit sticky last start and he got bogged down in it.
“I threw him in the paddock for a week for a change of environment and a freshen up.
“I haven’t done much with him as he’s had plenty of work. He ran in all the good races and had three runs over a mile.
“He had a little blowout Monday morning over a furlong.”
Ramsey believes the addition of pacifiers may have also compounded Glenall’s below-par performance last start, so he has removed them for Saturday and added concussion plates to help take the sting out of the ground.
“He’s an older horse now with possible joint issues so we’ll see how it goes,” Ramsey said.
Australian Hall Of Fame jockey Robert Thompson has been booked to ride Glenall.
Ramsey also has Bright Rubick engaged in the fillies and mares benchmark 78 race on a program which includes the Group Three NJC 3YO Spring Stakes (1600m) and the Max Lees Classic (900m) for two-year-olds.
Bright Rubick, owned by Ramsey Pastoral and Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, finished down the track on a heavy surface at Rosehill on October 31 but Ramsey is confident the mare can turn in a better performance on Saturday.
“We worked out she didn’t handle the heavy track last start but she had been racing well and hopefully she can bounce back,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey’s 2019 VRC Oaks placegetter Never Listen returns to the stable in a fortnight.
Never Listen is by Trusting, a former resident stallion at the Ramsey family’s Turangga Stud and had one run in the autumn before being sidelined due to bone chips and a slight fracture in her knee.
