Hat-trick up for Farag

[Wandering Eyes]

Warrnambool trainer Aaron Purcell will keep Farag (NZ) (Sacred Falls) to the flat for the immediate future after the New Zealand-bred gelding recorded a strong staying win at Sandown.

Farag added the Sportsbet Make It Look Easy Handicap (3000m) on Wednesday to his record of four wins from five starts since joining the stable of Purcell after 14 starts in New Zealand.

Giving Damian Lane a second win in the first three races on Wednesday, Farag ($4.20) scored a widening 3-¾ length win.

Purcell said the Listed Sandown Cup (3200m) in June could be a race that Farag is geared towards before embarking on a potential jumping career.

The Sandown Cup has been rescheduled this year from its traditional November date.

Faraq started his winning spree with a Geelong maiden win in January while he won at Bendigo and Warrnambool in the lead up to Wednesday’s success.

“He’s a really good stayer. He’s got a great set of lungs, a good heart in him, a really good action,” Purcell said.

“He’s a lean horse, so we don’t do a lot with him at home as there’s not a lot there, but he loves his racing. He loves galloping and loves being here in Australia.”

Purcell said he hopes to return to Sandown on April 1 for another 3000m contest, this time at benchmark 78 level, before setting his sights higher.

“There’s another won of these races here on Monday week and if we can do well in that again, then we may have to lift the bar again,” Purcell said.

“They’ve transferred the Sandown Cup to June, so that might be a long-range plan, but we’ll see how many races we can tick off along the way.

“He’s been jumping a fair bit, and he jumps pretty good, but he won’t be jumping until later in the season, or even next season.”

Lane was forced to jog back to scale post-race after Farag dumped the jockey before entering the mounting yard.

“I was walking back just a little bit too relaxed,” Lane said.

“I don’t know what he saw, but he shied at something, and I embarrassingly landed on my backside as we were walking back.”

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