Yourtheman in line for second win

Astute jumping trainer Mark Oulaghan is pleased with the condition of Yourtheman, which will attempt to win his second Waikato Hurdles at Te Rapa tomorrow.

Yourtheman won the race in 2008 and can boast a fine record over hurdles, with five wins and four placings from 14 starts.

Oulaghan tuned Yourtheman up for tomorrow's $33,500, 3200m race with a maiden steeplechase at Wanganui last week when the Yamanin Vital gelding was too classy for his rivals.

"He did well in that and condition-wise he is as well as I would like," Oulaghan said.

It's not a big field, with nine runners but four of them – HighSeason, Yourtheman, Kidunot and Spirit Of Alaton – have a rating of 100 or over.

Unlike previous seasons, when Yourtheman had only had a brief summer break because of plans to race in Japan and Australia, he had four to five months off last summer.

"He seems to have benefited from that," Oulaghan said.

He said he had no set plans for Yourtheman this winter.

"We will take things as they come and there is the option there to go over the steeples."

Tommy Hazlett, who has ridden the horse in most of his big wins, returned from a broken leg suffered in February for the Wanganui race and said the leg came through it well.

"I had a bit of a sweat and a blow after the race. I will improve with the run," Hazlett joked yesterday.

One of Yourtheman's main rivals, Spirit Of Alaton, won the Waikato Hurdles last year, ahead of Wolf Pack and High Season, who are again in the race. The track that day was a slow 7, which was its rating today.

That might not suit last year's Great Northern Hurdles winner Kidunot, who races best on dry tracks.

Bill and Mark Weal will hope the track does not get any worse when Climbing High starts in the $33,500 Waikato Steeples (4900m) two races later.

Climbing High won the Ken and Roger Browne Memorial Steeplechase (4000m) at Te Rapa on May 6 and will be one of the favourites, but he does not like heavy tracks.

There will be much interest in the performance of 2007 Waikato Steeples winner Black Eagle, who has not been over fences since finishing ninth in the Grand National Steeplechase that year. He had a recent run on the flat and top Australian rider Craig Durden is travelling over to ride him.NZPA

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