A horse that caught Brisbane racing’s attention late last year was Essington trained by Darryl Hansen, and we have been tracking the 4 year old son of Redoute’s Choice and his progress ever since. Last time in work hit set the track alight with a devastating first up win running 1:09:28 and then bettered that second up running 1:08:75 and rolling Bold Glance and The Jackal in the process.
He hasn’t raced in around eight weeks now and I thought it would be a good time to check in with Darryl Hansen to see when we would see his stable star step out.
“I’m just bringing him up slowly again, he is progressing lovely. We will be looking at the Glasshouse (1400m) at the Sunshine Coast and I’m more worried about the Brisbane carnival next time. He will have possibly two starts leading into the Glasshouse race.” Hansen told us.
Hanson has done a super job with the Lloyd Williams cast off and it is a credit to himself and staff how they have given Essington time and been patient to get the best out of the gelding. They will reap the rewards of their effort, as long as he stays sound they will have a fun couple of years with him yet.
The next horse on the list I would love to own is Mondean and I asked Darryl what his plans are with the consistent galloper. “I gave him a freshen up, he is back in work now, he will probably start first up Ipswich cup day, and then his main aims are the Mackay Newmarket and the Cleveland Bay. I thought they were two nice races for him.” Hansen added.
He is a genuinely good bloke Darryl and he bought nice at the latest sales and if people are looking for a down to earth bloke who will show you a good time in racing, I’m sure he would be your man. He has the team firing and said he has some other horses in the stable he is happy with, to go along with his other stars.
To show how good of a trainer he is, this weekend he has Perugin Thought running, he is a rising 9 year old and in my mind his last prep was probably he best of his career. A sign of a good horse, and a very good trainer!
*We will follow up with Darryl through the carnival to keep up with Essington’s progress.
***Also on another topic, one of the site’s blackbookers runs tomorrow- PECK in Sydney, it will be too short to back but is well worth watching with an eye towards our Derby etc.
