A minor mix-up in a recent barrier trial nearly prevented Tyler Schiller from assessing Gatineau, but there will be no such confusion for the juvenile’s upcoming debut at Rosehill.
Schiller was mistakenly aboard Gatineau’s stablemate, Blackbelt, during the same 900-metre heat on June 19. The error was only identified and rectified once the horses were en route to the starting stalls.
“There was a bit of a mix-up, and I ended up on the other horse of the Hawkes’ in the trial on the way to the gates,” Schiller stated. “Jay Ford was on the grey (Gatineau) going to the gates, and he’d been told to win the trial. I obviously wasn’t told that, but I knew he was expected to go out there and perform well, so I just gave him a good experience.”
Blackbelt finished second in the trial, while Gatineau secured fourth place. However, Gatineau caught the eye with his strong finish under his own steam, closing in on the placegetters.
Although Gatineau faces a challenge competing against more experienced horses in Saturday’s Thank You ATC Members Handicap (1100m) at Rosehill, Schiller believes the colt possesses natural talent and is keen to see his race-day potential.
“I thought his trial was terrific. He trucked up behind them well,” Schiller commented. “He’s got plenty of ability. It will be interesting to see what he does when he gets a gap and hits the front, because I know sitting behind them on the bridle can be a different story.”
A win for Gatineau would continue a successful late-season trend for Hawkes Racing’s two-year-olds.
The stable previously celebrated an impressive victory with the All Too Hard colt Why So Hard at Randwick on June 6, followed by Marwooba’s win at Rosehill a week later.
Schiller, who rides extensively for John, Wayne, and Michael Hawkes in Sydney, indicated that this late-season surge is not surprising.
“We had a few early in the season that had setbacks with shin soreness and that sort of thing,” he explained. “They’ve missed all the big races, but the team has been able to get the horses into races where they can knock off a two-year-old win before they turn three. The team has been going well of late, so hopefully we can keep up the momentum.”
Schiller is also anticipating a strong performance from the Jim and Greg Lee-trained gelding Glorious Moments as he makes his black-type debut in the Listed Winter Stakes (1400m). Having won four of his seven starts, the gelding demonstrated tenacity when winning with a considerable weight at Randwick last start, adding intrigue to the typical field in the feature sprint. “It’s a quality field, so you can’t say he’s going to come out and be dominant, but I think he’s a really good chance down in the weights,” Schiller noted.
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