Like a good red wine, The Sixties just seems to get better
with age.
That's the
opinion of trainer Tracy Green who notched up her third win of the new racing
season when The Sixties downed Motspur by a neck in the Dulux Group Handicap
(1200m) at Doomben on Saturday.
Green has
only a small team of nine horses including several two-year-olds in work but
has a first class strike rate of three wins and two seconds from nine runners
this season.
The
Sixties has proven to be a great money-spinner for Green who paid $25,000 for
the son of Grandera at the Magic Millions breeze-up sales as a yearling.
Now a
seven-year-old, The Sixties has earned more than $344,000 after landing his
11th win from 45 starts.
Green had
endured her share of frustration with The Sixties who ended a 15-month
winning drought when successful at Eagle Farm in January.
"He
lost confidence there for a while but I put him away and put blinkers on him
two campaigns ago which appears to have done the trick," Green said.
"He's
only a tiny thing and is just over 15 hands high.
"Every
time we put him in a decent race he got smashed. He was like a scared little
boy and he's still a little timid on the track.
"I'm
not sure why but he seems to be like his father and is getting better with age.
"Grandera
did the same thing and his best year was as a six-year-old."
The Sixties
is affectionately labelled a "little bantam rooster" by Green.
"He's
only tiny but he puffs himself up like a little rooster and puts his chest out,"
she said.
"He
can be full of cheek but at the same time he doesn't make life easy for you
around the stables and can bite you at feed time."
Green is
aware The Sixties' future is limited but she's confident there are a few more wins
in store.
"He's
not quite up to Listed level but in two weeks time there's another race like
this at Doomben," she said.
"He's
had a couple of hard runs now this campaign but he keeps hanging in
there."
Meanwhile trainer
David Murphy is eyeing a country Cups campaign next winter for Revitalise following
his win in the Programmed Property Services Handicap (1600m).
Murphy is
confident Revitalise can progress through the restricted ranks in the short
term before stepping up to the Brisbane winter carnival next year.
The Listed
Ipswich Cup (2150m) in June is one of the early targets Murphy believes
Revitalise can measure up to next year.
Racing Queensland webnews August 25
Photo: Trackside Photography
