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Great Northern Hurdles prospect Just Got Home will resume his flat career this weekend.
The Rudy Liefting-trained six-year-old has won five times in that role and will start at either the Whangarei or Manawatu meetings on Saturday.
“Long-term, the plan is to aim at the Great Northern, but in the meantime he might go to either Ruakaka or down to Palmerston North with the others,” Liefting’s wife Megan said. “Istimagic will run in the Awapuni Hurdles and Pasha Sumore will run on the flat.”
Istimagic beat Back In Black in her first appearance over the smaller fences at Ellerslie last time out while recent recruit Pasha Sumore, a five-time winner, has placed in one of her two appearances for the stable.
Just Got Home was also successful in his hurdle debut at Te Rapa, where he accounted for the former Gr.1 Auckland Cup placegetter El Soldado, and then finished runner-up to the accomplished Sea King in the KS Browne Hurdle.
He is a son of the dual Group One New Zealand Oaks and 1000 Guineas winner Justa Tad and his half-brother Move Faster is back in work after he was side-lined in the spring following an open handicap success at New Plymouth.
“He had bone chips in a back fetlock and there was quite a bit of damage,” Liefting said. “They’ve all been removed and we’re taking it pretty slowly at the moment so there’s a bit of a question mark on him.
“We’ll give him a chance, but if he doesn’t come back then we might look at sending a mare or two to him – we could have our own backyard stallion!”
By Keeper, Move Faster has four wins and six placings from his 18 starts and showed his quality with a defeat of Addictive Habit in the Listed Ryder Stakes and the following season he added the Listed Wanganui Guineas to his record.