Jodelin Gal passes first test on the way to possible Group One assignment

[Wandering Eyes]

Progressive mare Jodelin Gal (NZ) (Swiss Ace) showed she is just as adept in testing winter footing as she is on the good summer tracks when she proved too tough for her rivals over 1400m at Hastings on Monday.

Trainer Carl Henderson resisted the temptation to utilise an apprentice claim on his charge to reduce her 59.5kg impost with senior rider Lynsey Satherley charged with piloting the five-year-old in the open class event.

In just the second run of her current campaign after finishing close up in sixth behind Francesca (NZ) (Iffraaj) in the Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes (1400m) last month, the daughter of Swiss Ace was tardily away for Satherley before making ground against the rail approaching the home turn.

Switched to three off the fence, Jodelin Gal made steady progress after pacemakers Scotch (I Am Invincible) and Old Town Road (NZ) (El Roca) before holding out Dawn Parade (Dawn Approach) in the closing 100m to record her sixth win from just 15 starts.

Henderson admitted he was worried about the weight his mare had to carry when he saw just how testing the Heavy 10 rated surface was playing.

“I worried about the weight, especially when Lynsey is a lightweight rider so she was carrying a fair bit of dead weight as well,” he said.

“She actually said the mare didn’t really travel that well and was making heavy weather of it, but she is tough and just wouldn’t give in.

“I think Lynsey was looking for a rest as she told me she was buggered when she jumped off her in the birdcage afterwards.”

Henderson will pick a careful path through the winter months as his main aim with the mare is the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) back at Hastings on September 10

“Today was a test to see how she handled the travel and the track itself as we would like to come back here in the spring for the Tarzino Trophy,” he said.

“The tracks can get a bit wet at that time of the year, which we know she can handle and she will have race fitness on her side against some of the others that will line up.

“Whether she is up to that class is another thing but if she could snag some Group One black-type then it would definitely be mission accomplished for her owners when she heads to the broodmare paddock later on.

“Between now and Hastings we might look at the fillies and mares race at Tauranga (Listed Tauranga Classic, 1400m) at the end of the month and one more in July before we back off for a wee break and then bring her back for Hastings.”

Bred and raced by Ross and Corrine Kearney of Okoroire, south of Matamata, under their Okaharau Station banner, Jodelin Gal is out of Conatus mare Signorina and is the older half-sister of Gr.3 Anniversary Handicap (1600m) winner Bankers Choice who now does his racing in Australia out of Mike Moroney’s Melbourne stable and was beaten less than three lengths when sixth in the Gr.1 Doncaster Handicap (1600m).

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