Canberra trainer Nick Olive heads to Albury Thursday with a juvenile and in-form four-year-old looking to land a winning double, reports Racing NSW.
The Olive stable, which has been enjoying a good run of success lately, will saddle up two-year-old Lock The Doors in the Alburyweddings.com.au 2YO Hcp (1175m) and Northern Meteor gelding Kentucky Fireball in the Vision Screen Printing Class 3 Hcp (1175m).
“Both horses look to have good chances. Hopefully we can have a bit of luck and get the double,” Olive suggested.
Lock The Doors, by Killy, was bred by part-owner Steve Carney.
The juvenile is out of the Sequalo mare Terrawinda, also bred by Carney and previously trained by Olive.
“Steve rang me one day and asked me to come down and have a look at a yearling,” Olive said. “I really liked the horse and even bought into him myself.”
Lock The Doors is coming off a last start 5.8 lengths ninth to Skyclad in a 1100m 2YO event at Rosehill on May 9.
Left: Gelding Lock The Doors is looking to land a winning double at Albury tomorrow
The gelding was trapped wide throughout.
“Jeff (Penza) came back and said it wasn’t a good ride,” Olive revealed. “He might have been out of his depth in the race but he never really got a chance.
“He’s had a good gallop since and I’ve just kept him ticking over. He should be hard to be at Albury, especially after Nick Heywood’s 2kg claim.”
Prior to the Rosehill failure Lock The Doors scored impressively on a heavy track at Bathurst on April 25 and was a close first-up third to Flash In The Dark and Our Project over 1000m at Wagga on April 12 following a 113-day spell.
Kentucky Fireball, a Triple Crown Syndications gelding, is coming off an impressive last start win when leading throughout in a 1200m Class 2 Hcp at Canberra on April 24.
“He won really well last start,” Olive said. “He went straight to the front and was never going to get beaten.
“He’s pulled up good and I’ve given him a bit of time between runs which he appreciates. The horse is great, really good.
“He’s a beautiful type, a decent sized horse and pretty straight forward to train.
“Everyone around the stable loves him. He’s one of the favourites.”
Michael Travers has the mount, Kentucky Fireball ideally drawn in barrier two.