One of the feature races this weekend is the Healy stakes where there will be a very high quality field of sprinters to do battle. A horse that was very impressive last start was Trusted Partner trained by Gold Coast trainer Simon Foster.
The race he won was the Lightning, and on that occasion Dwayne Dunn went straight to the lead and with the lightweight never looked like being beaten, eventually winning by almost two lengths and holding them on the line. He has a fantastic winning record and there is every chance that can continue in the Healy.
I had a chat with Simon Foster today to see if the horse would be running and what the plans are after that. “He’s come through that run well, and has come through his last bit of quick work today, so all going well we will head to the Healy.” Foster said.
I also asked what he thought of the 1200m as it is only his second run at the trip, but as Simon pointed out he ran second in the Cleveland Bay which is one of the best sprints in North QLD, and the horse seems to be going better than ever before with the evidence being the dominant win in the Lightning.
If he runs well there is a chance that Trusted Partner could make it down to the Ramornie handicap at Grafton as Simon told me. “That’s one of the reasons I’m running him in the Healy, because I wanted to give him a 1200m run before I took him all the way down to Grafton. As long as he comes through the Healy well he should go to the Ramornie after that.”
Another handy horse in Foster’s care is Shazoom who was nominated for a race this weekend but looks as though it will struggle to get a start and Simon thinks it will go around over 1400m the following week.
In my opinion Simon is placing this sprinter very well and the Healy will be a great guide for the Ramornie again this year. Buffering and few others have early pace and will be a good guide to see how Trusted Partner goes over a hard run 1200m, because you can guarantee that the Ramornie is always run at breakneck speed.
**Photograph by- TARON CLARKE
