Jack ready to further all-weather record

Late starter Jack Morrison will be presented with another ideal opportunity on his home polytrack course at Awapuni on Sunday to make up for lost time.

The son of Darci Brahma has proved himself to be an all-weather specialist and will chase further success in the BJW Motors 2022 Ltd Handicap (1700m).

Jack Morrison has posted six wins and a minor placing from his eight appearances on the synthetic surface at Awapuni and was most recently a game fifth in the $100,000 TAB Polytrack Championship (2000m) at Cambridge.

“It looks a good race for him and his run the other day wasn’t too bad,” trainer Mark Oulaghan said.

“He’s racing well and seems to keep his best form for this track, so he’s a good show again.”

Jack Morrison joined Oulaghan’s stable later in life and his flat form has put the original intention of going over fences on hold.

“I got him as a rising five-year-old with the idea of getting him jumping, and he’ll probably end up doing that at some stage, but at the moment we’ll keep plugging away,” he said.

Prior to his northern sojourn, Jack Morrison had been in fine touch with a hat-trick of wins and a sound fourth under 62.5kg to his credit.

Meanwhile, top jumper Berry The Cash returned from Riccarton in good order with sights now set on the J Swap Great New Zealand Hurdle (4200m) at Te Aroha on September 19.

He ran second in the Sydenham Hurdles (3100m) on the opening day of the southern carnival before finishing fifth in his bid for a third victory in the Grand National Hurdles (4200m).

“He’s well and probably got a bit far out of his ground and couldn’t make it up,” Oulaghan said.

“He seems pretty good, and he’ll press on toward the Northern and he’ll probably have a flat run somewhere before that.”

Stablemate Semper Magico will shortly return to the stable after he was sidelined following three outings this winter.

“He’s had a couple of niggling muscle problems and that’s just held him up, so he’s not doing much at the moment,” Oulaghan said.

“He’s had a couple of weeks off and I’ll probably get him back in next week and hopefully get him back racing in the next month.”

Semper Magico has won on nine occasions on the flat and finished runner-up in an edition of the Listed Wanganui Cup (2040m), and in a brief hurdling career has a runaway win and a placing to his credit.

Oulaghan is undecided about the immediate future of his star jumper West Coast, who came up short in his bid for a fourth consecutive victory in the Grand National Steeplechase (5600m) at Riccarton.

The 10-year-old landed awkwardly after jumping Cutts Brush the final time and nearly unseated rider Willie McCarthy before finishing fourth under 73kg.

“He spread himself at that fence and sometimes those things can take a while to get over, but he does seem to be okay,” Oulaghan said.

West Coast has also won the last two editions of the Great Northern Steeplechase (6500m) at Te Rapa, but the relocation in venue for this year’s renamed Ben and Ryan Foote Great NZ Steeplechase (6200m) has cast doubt on his participation.

“I’m not overly keen to run him at Te Aroha, it’s a smaller turning track so I don’t know whether it’s quite his thing, so I’m undecided whether he’ll have another run or not,” Oulaghan said.