Wait and see approach for Winter Cup winner Nashville
The Darci Brahma gelding is currently in the fields for the Millennium Hotels and Resorts Premier Open 1400 and the Christchurch Casino Winter Classic over 1800m.
Adrian Bull highlighted weight as the main reason the multiple group one winner still remains in both, and said the team would make a decision on which race they will target by Friday night.
“The weight relief in one field is the main reason,” Bull said.
“He only gets 55.5kg with a claim (in the 1400m). The other one he gets 60kg and there are a few good horses on 53kg.”
The runner-up to Nashville, the Ben Ropiha-trained Doiknowyou, and Platinum Command which placed fourth, present the biggest challenges to the Bull candidate.
Bull said conditions will dictate which race they target.
“We’ll just see if the track gets any worse,” the co-trainer said.
“If it does we would probably lean toward the lighter weight race.”
Whichever Riccarton event the Bull team chooses for Nashville, it is likely to be the last gallop for this preparation.
Bull said he was very happy with Nashville’s win in the Winter Cup and it will go for a spell after Saturday’s run before possibly targeting the Group Two Coupland’s Bakeries Mile in November, a race the horse won in 2012.