Mike Moroney sends Araldo Junior on Wellington Cup quest
He won the 2016 Group 2 Wellington Cup (3200m) with Mister Impatience after the English-bred galloper had proved his staying quality in Australia with a victory in the Listed Queensland Cup (3200m).
Moroney won the latter race again this year with the German import Araldo Junior, who is now to cross the Tasman for a crack at the Group 1 Auckland Cup (3200m).
“He had a barrier trial in Melbourne the other day and Mike thinks he’s an ideal horse for the Cup,” Moroney’s Matamata training partner Pam Gerard said.
He is a half-brother to the Moroney-trained Araldo, who had to be euthanised after a freak accident on his return to scale following his seventh placing in the 2014 Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m).
Araldo Junior was a multiple winner in his native Germany and has added a further three victories since his arriving Australia.
Meanwhile, stable surprise packet Resurrect is in the right order to continue his good run of form in the Stella Artois Handicap (1200m) at Ellerslie on Friday.
The Shinko King gelding won at Tauranga three runs back and finished runner-up at his following two starts, including a placing behind the Gr.1 Sistema Railway (1200m) contender Ferrando.
“I thought he was just a wet tracker, I didn’t know he could run so fast and I nearly fell out of the stand the other day at Te Rapa,” Gerard said.
“He’s still a bit unruly and doesn’t help himself, but I can’t fault him at the moment.”