Sargent chasing more Aussie success

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I had the absolute pleasure of catching up with one of Australasia’s best trainers in John Sargent this morning. His record in New Zealand is amazing, and when he brings his horses to our carnival not many go home without some Aussie dollars!

This year John has nine horses over here and I took the opportunity to ask about a handful of them, starting with St Germaine. I thought she may have run in the Glenlogan Park (1350m), but John feels she may want a touch further. “She may run in the other race, she may be looking for a mile so she may run in the Lord Mayor’s WFA.” Sargent said. He also said Damian Browne will ride and that will give them a guide as to where she runs next.

Choice Bro is a very nice 2 year old who ran well on the weekend, but John feels there is improvement in the horse and punters should keep him safe when he steps up in trip. “He’s been set for the big mile (T.J.Smith) and he may even need another one as he had a break after winning his group 1. His one goal is the T.J.Smith in a months’ time. He sweated up a bit before the race and came to the end of it the last 100m, so there is improvement and he is a big strong Aussie bred colt.”

Quintessential is a top quality mare that Sargent has a lot of time for and she runs in the Roses 2000m this weekend. She will run in either the oaks or the derby after this start and if she can draw a nice gate this weekend the champion trainer feels she will be right in the race and hard to beat. She doesn’t like the heavy tracks, but performed well last start and wasn’t far off Brambles. Getting back on to a good surface could be the key to her.

Dollario is the horse that I really wanted to ask John about as his form and replays grabbed my attention. The horse ran 3rd in the 2000 guineas behind Rock’n’pop and has had one run here which was really good. “He had a bone chip (after the guineas), so I took that out of his knee and he is on the way up. He is a good horse, who likes it wet or dry. It may be too late for the derby and I might run him at the Gold Coast and then probably bring him to town for one of the big mile races.”

Without hassling John I asked what else he thinks I may have missed or another horse we should follow in its Aussie campaign. He felt Shanghai Bund is reaching his peak, and that Keep Winning is also on the improve and is heading towards the derby.

He is a terrific trainer and a nice bloke to talk too. If you want to know more about John Sargent and his set up you can check his website out. It is one of the best and most informative racing websites around:

http://www.johnsargentracing.co.nz/