General Salute is contending with a substantial handicap rating in the lead-up to the $1 million The Hunter at Newcastle, though co-trainer Gerald Ryan reports the gelding is in excellent condition.
As a dual Group 3 winner, General Salute carries 59kg, two kilograms less than the topweight Pericles, who has a Group 1 victory and five Group 2 wins to his credit.
“The weights, they haven’t missed him,” Ryan remarked.
“He’s got a benchmark rating of 111 and he’s only won a Group Three race. He hasn’t even won a Group Two. With these benchmarks, there’s five benchmark points between him and Pericles, and I know it’s a quality handicap, but that’s supposed to be two-and-a-half kilos difference, and there’s only two. Then when you look at the other horses that are supposed to be two-and-a-half kilos less than us, they are.”
“(But) he looks well, probably the best I’ve seen him look. Big, strong. He’s going really well.”
Following a first-up win in the Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m), General Salute showed his grit when finishing fifth in the Alan Brown Stakes (1400m) on October 10. He was then given a short break at a farm before resuming training for Saturday’s $1 million The Hunter (1300m) event.
This training routine, a collaboration between Ryan and partner Sterling Alexiou, has been consistently effective for the horse, with General Salute only finishing unplaced on two occasions in his last thirteen starts.
“We always space his runs,” Ryan stated. “After he had his last start we sent him to the farm and the water walker for ten days, which we’ve done a few times, and aimed to bring him back for this race fresh-up. That’s why he’s been able to have an extended program. He gets lots of little holidays.”
Tim Clark is slated to ride General Salute from barrier 10, with the race featuring a full field of 16 runners, complemented by six emergencies.
This race is slated to be the final appearance for the veteran nine-year-old gelding, Coal Crusher. Coal Crusher, a two-time winner of The Hunter in 2023 and 2025, will be participating in the Newcastle meeting for the fifth consecutive year.
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