The Manipulator again

PANSPACIFICFLIGHT four-year-old gelding The Manipulator was good enough to be racing at the Jewels in Cambridge at Queen’s Birthday Weekend, but instead he was in a lowly $8000 C2-4 race at Ashburton.

Injury kept him away from the track for a year and he didn’t have any chance to qualify for the big day of of racing. He didn’t resume until premier day at Addington on 21 May when he went out a $1.30 favourite for co-trainer Natalie Rasmussen and won well, if narrowly, after sitting parked out for the last lap.

Stable driver Tim Williams was in the sulky for Sunday’s standing start race at Ashburton. The Manipulator, again a raging hot favourite, got away well and was never in real danger of defeat when he found the front. He ran his last half in 55.8, and last quarter in 26.6, to hold out the trailing horse, Smarter VC, by a neck.

FOOTNOTE: Sadly The Manipulator has been retired after breaking down again in the same knee that caused his problems last season. He had four wins from just eight starts.