“It s a massive blow, hard to put into words. “I felt something wasn’t right in the last couple of hundred metres [of the gallop] . he changed stride and I pulled him up.” Orepuki Lad won the Invercargill Gold Cup and Tyler Eight was an impressive maiden winner at Ascot Park on February 20. The father and daughter training partnership of Kelvin and Aimee Tyler had plans to start Tyler Eight in the Wellington Guineas on March 20. Kelvin took City Slicker to Auckland for two races, with the priority being this Saturday’s $500,000 Auckland Cup. Meanwhile, the Tylers and Eades will be hoping their luck changes for the Wyndham Racing Club’s race meeting at Gore on Sunday. Kilowatt and Dr Velocious, trained by the Tylers, and Riviera Rock, a member of the Eades’ stable, are nominated for the Wyndham Cup.
“We’re overjoyed to get it,” McCurdy said. “We’ll try and put on the best day we can and hope we get horse numbers there with the money we’re putting up for trainers and owners. “We want to grow our business . we’ve got the facilities to do it.” He added one of his long-term goals was for the club to hold a two-day meeting at New Year. With a lot of holidaymakers in Riverton during December and January, McCurdy said the number of racegoers on course could reach 5000. The feature on the eight-race programme will be the $20,000 Riverton Summer Cup, while other races will carry stakes of $15,000.