Trainer Leanne Elliot is pleased with the way Group I Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) winner Rock On Wood has come through his exertions on Saturday but isn’t rushing to make immediate plans for his next start.
Rock on Wood has a full sister heading to Karaka 2021.
“He has come through it pretty well actually and is looking pretty spritely,” the Levin horsewoman said.
“He is nominated for the Thorndon (Gr.1, 1600m) and at this stage I am not sure where I will go before then. I will give him a few days.
“I think he is suited to a mile. It is probably his pet distance at this stage.”
Elliot, whose son Ryan rode the horse to Group One glory on Saturday, said she was pleasantly surprised by the Trentham track conditions and the manner in which Rock On Wood handled the Slow7.
“He is a lot more mature and a much stronger horse now, so he got away with it on Saturday,” she said.
“But the conditions were a lot better than we could have hoped for because it was a bad start to the week with the weather.”
The six-year-old gelding has had just 17 career starts, for eight wins and four placings.
“In his second preparation he cut his leg, which needed time off and then he got quite a bad rash which also needed a bit of time to clear up, so it was just the way that season worked out,” Elliot said.
“Following that, it just worked out that he liked his runs a little bit spaced.”
Elliot confirmed that throughout the course of Rock On Wood’s career, plenty of overseas offers had come for the son of Redwood, whom Elliot owns in partnership with her mother Jill and sister Yvonne.
“The main thing is we like to race our horses and it is not often you get one like this,” she said.
“It was pretty special for Ryan to get his first Group One win on the horse.”
