PERICLES RISES ADMIRABLY IN CLASS

Notching two of his last three, Pericles (3 g Rubick – Empyrean, by O’Reilly) won the $25,000 3YO 1400 metres on Sunday at Pukekohe.

Given a positive ride by Vinnie Colgan to break through at his fourth start in the Maiden 3YO 1230 metres on 10 December at Rotorua, Pericles was subsequently unsuited on heavy ground when stepping in class for the 3YO 1400 metres on 6 January at Hastings.

Drawn the outside (8) in a small but select field, Pericles was smartly away to situate second, travelled as well as any turning for home and found plenty when Colgan asked him to extend inside the 200m. With race favourite Tanganiyka (Ace High) closing for second and leader There Goes My Hero (No Nay Never) remaining in the fight for third, it was a very good effort by Pericles to get the job done.

In the race named Join the BGP KM Punters Club via TAB.co.nz, Pericles ran 1400 metres in 1:23.5 on footing upgraded to Good3 and drifted in betting to pay $28.20 & $5.00 on the NZ TAB tote.

Fair to say, the only times Pericles has struggled was when encountering wet ground and otherwise his form is that of a promising galloper.

“He’s a pretty good horse and it’s only a couple of wet tracks and indifferent rides that have tripped him up,” said co-trainer Pam Gerard.

“He just cannot cope with wet tracks and still very green, but once he works it out he could have a bright future if we do the right things by him and don’t rush him.

“Depending how he comes through the race, we might try and find a suitable stakes race over 1200m or 1400 metres and then probably give him a break.

“Vinnie (Colgan) said he still doesn’t really know what he’s doing and wants to go a bit hard. He’s got the pedigree to go a lot further, but in the meantime he’s showing plenty of natural speed over shorter trips.

“It’s good to see him racing so well while he’s still working it all out, which just shows he’s got the talent.

“We had Mikey (Thompson) strapping him today because he’s a big, strong, boy and needs a bit of handling.

“Sian and Hugh (Fletcher) were on course to see him win, which was good, after they’d been at Trentham yesterday.”

Selected by Paul Moroney Bloodstock and purchased for $110,000 by Ballymore Stables at the Karaka 2022 Book 1 Sale, from the draft of Pencarrow Stud, Pericles races in the Fletcher tartan colours and shares similar ownership of triple Group One placed stable-mate Harlech (Darci Brahma): Hugh Fletcher, and his wife Dame Sian Elias, Roddy and Jenny Paddon, Alan Schmedje, and Ballymore Stables.

A robust type whose grand-dam Ethereal (Rhythm) won the Caulfield Cup / Melbourne Cup double, his sire Rubick, a fast horse that won twice as a two-year-old and renowned for injecting speed into his progeny, by Champion stallion Encosta de Lago (Fairy King), was also the sire of $13m Everest (1200m) winner Yes Yes Yes.

Grand-dam Ethereal (Rhythm) endeared herself to race fans when winning the 2001 Melbourne Cup (Gr. 1, 3200m).

Out of Romanee Conti (Sir Tristram), bred and owned by Sir Peter & Philip Vela and trained by Sheila Laxon, Ethereal became a household name after winning ‘The Cup’, with additional Group One victories in the Queensland Oaks (Gr. 1, 2400m), Caulfield Cup (Gr. 1, 2400m), and BMW (Gr. 1, 2400m), and her eight wins from twenty-one starts amassed earnings over $6 million.

Furthermore, Romanee Conti won the Hong Kong International Cup (HK1, 1800m) in 1993, one of her five stakes victories.

Pericles was strapped by Michael Thompson.