Local Caulfield horseman Henry Dwyer will give his lightly-raced five-year-old Lucky Liberty one final run for the year at home on Boxing Day in the 2016 Christmas Stakes.
Local sprinter Lucky Liberty chases his first black-type win at Caulfield on Boxing Day in the 2016 Christmas Stakes. Photo: Adrienne Bicknell.
The Statue Of Liberty gelding has had just the 10 career starts to date and boasts a consistent 50% winning strike rate having won five of those.
He posted back-to-back victories in Victoria during October including a 1200m sprint win at Caulfield Racecourse.
During the Melbourne Cup Carnival he lined-up in a 1400m handicap at Flemington on Emirates Stakes Day and ran third to Lord Aspen, before a fifth in Pakenham’s VOBIS Gold Bullion (1400m) on the synthetic last start.
Dwyer knows the horse is coming to the end of his campaign and plans to give Lucky Liberty a lengthy spell post his Boxing Day test in the $120,000 Listed Christmas Stakes (1200m).
It will be the galloper’s first black-type assignment since his failed 13th of 14 runners behind Wandjina in the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) back in March of 2015.
“He was a little bit stiff in that race at Pakenham, in that he was in the wrong part of the track, back on the inside,” Dwyer told Racing Victoria on Tuesday.
“We were going to tip him out and give him a good break, but I thought we might have one last roll of the dice in the Christmas Stakes at Caulfield – home track.
“He’s won over the 1200m at Caulfield before.
“Just freshened him right up again, we sent him straight to the paddock straight after [his last run], he had a week in the paddock and a couple of weeks on the water walker.
“He’ll arrive back today, have an easy gallop on Friday or Saturday and go into the race feeling good.”
Dwyer will also accept for Vital Importance to have a Caulfield run on Monday December 26 in a Benchmark 84 handicap over 1400m.
The six-year-old daughter of Vital Equine chases her first win since a first-up effort in the mud at Sale back in October.
Last time out she ran under two lengths away sixth at Flemington behind Aurum Spirit over the mile on December 10.
“[She] might’ve been half having a lend of us as well,” Dwyer said of the mare’s latest run, adding the blinkers would go on for Monday’s assignment.
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