Anderson reveals path for impressive Scone winner
Written by Jett Hatton for Racenet
Trainer Chris Anderson isn’t getting ahead of himself with handy three-year-old Larrikin Rogue.
The son of Flying Artie was one of the more impressive winners during Scone’s two day carnival when rounding up his rivals from last for a comfortable victory in a class two over 1300 metres.
Despite targeting the Fred Best Classic for Larrikin Rogue’s next start, the Brisbane trainer isn’t thinking of the Stradbroke Handicap … yet.
Winner of the Fred Best offers ballot exemption into Queensland’s premier handicap.
“I’m not even going to mention that word (Stradbroke) to be honest, I think that’s probably aiming a bit too high off a win at Scone,” Anderson said.
“With all due respect it wasn’t the strongest race at Scone but it was just the way in which he won that was so impressive.
“I’ve got a bit of an opinion of the horse too so I wasn’t surprised to see what he did on Friday.
“It’s not (Stradbroke) in my thinking at the moment but no doubt that Fred Best will be really strong.”
A veteran of only six starts, Anderson expects Larrikin Rogue to only get better and says the trip away from home will do the horse the world of good down the track.
“He’s still a real immature type hence why we were keen to campaign him away from home to help bring him on and make him a more mature horse moving forward,” Anderson said.
“We might see the benefit of that this prep but we definitely will at some stage.
“I’m happy with how he’s arrived back and we’ll head to the Fred Best next in a fortnight.”
Owned by the Queensland Rogues from the Racing League, Anderson says it’s a fantastic way to get new people into racing and Larrikin Rogue is the perfect horse for it.
“He’s such a thrilling horse because he does make the job a lot harder than it has to be which from a trainers point of view isn’t very good but from an owners point of view it’s great to see them win like he did,” Anderson said.
“The TRL is just a fantastic concept, getting people into racing that otherwise wouldn’t be.”
As for what lies ahead for Larrikin Rogue, Anderson concedes it will all depend on performance but would like to test the gelding out in trip.
He hopes to have Jason Collett back aboard after the pair combined to win last week.
“We still don’t know where he wants to get to trip wise as well. Maybe he’s a horse that wants a mile so a race like the Gunsynd Classic for three-year-olds could be a suitable option for him down the track,” Anderson said.
“Jason Collett was the right man for the job and hopefully he can stick with him in the Fred Best. We let him know that’s the way we’re going.”
Read the full article on racenet HERE