"I'm trying to gun him down but I don't think I can do it because I don't have any more firepower left," he said as the thoroughbred season concludes at the end of this month.
"It's definitely Guy and Grant's [Cullen] year here," he said of Lowry's co-trainer, Grant Cullen.
On a serious note, Bary, Lowry and Cullen are looking at the start of the Hawke's Bay Spring Racing Carnival Series from August 27.
On O'Reily's Choice, he felt the colt had over-raced in Wellington after a third placing on debut.
"We gave him a spell and brought him back and he's bigger and stronger so he's done the job today," he said of the 2-year-old horse who won the 800m NZB Insurance Pearl Series race 3.
"I didn't actually think he'd win today because I thought it was a bit short for him. He's a lovely animal, a well-bred colt by O'Reilly out of Redoute's Choice mare but, you know, at the end of the day those good horses win at those distances," Bary said, reflecting on Jimmy Choux winning at that distance before going on to clinch a derby.
"He's showed us a lot today. He's got heart and wants to be there for the 3-year-old season coming up," he said, finding it hard to predict a distance for O'Reily's Choice but suspecting he is a 1400m-to-a-mile horse and possibly 2000m but time will tell that.
Bary had received a phone call yesterday morning from jockey Jonathan Riddell who was a little under the weather so Johnathan Parkes rode the colt as the trainer scrambled to find riders for his other four horses.
While it was sad for Riddell, who had done a lot of work on O'Reily's Choice, Bary said Parkes had done an admirable job.
"That's the game and he [Riddell] will understand that."
His horse, Rawhide, finished second in the 1400m "JJ" Turns 60 Today in the next race, 1.3 lengths behind the Kylie Little-trained Lucyinrio with amateur Leah Hemi in the saddle.
"He was a great run. He was last all the whole way so he's a bit green and learning what to do but it was a massive run because not too many have made much ground today and he came flying home for second," he said, believing the 3-year-old chestnut gelding is a stayer in the making.
So what's the plan for Rawhide?
"I don't know. Hopefully he'll get sold because I part-own him but he's shown us a bit too today with a great run so we'll see what happens when the dust settles."
For the record, Bary had put Cool Hand Duke on notice and the 5-year-old brown gelding finished last, 4.8 lengths behind winner Alcaldesa (Leah Hemi) in the 1650m Bay Ford NZ Punter of the Year October 1st race.
"He had a great season last season but he's had an average one and he hasn't fronted up today so he might be looking for a different career in the jumping game or something but not with me."
A laughing Bary said he had no expectations of a mellow Cool Hand Duke who was fit, looked great but seemed to have a mind of his own.
"It's up to him because sometimes they get to a stage where they don't want to race any more so my job's done."
He has high expectations of Bohemian Lily, that will be a headline act in the group 3 of the group ones in the spring carnival.
In the 1650m Makfi Challenge Stakes-Daffodil Raceday line up, Lowry's Kininmont settled for fourth place after the 5-year-old brown gelding took his preferred pattern of an outside perch on the field but ran out of legs on the home straight .
"It was a good run and he seems to be getting into his races so it was an even pace but not a fast one and that made it a lot harder for him to make up ground today, whereby the other day they went out hard and finished very strongly to win.
"Today they didn't run that hard but he would have had to run pretty hard in the last 600 to pick him up and he couldn't quite do it," said Lowry as Parkes rode him behind the Glenn Old-trained winner, Real Thirsty, and jockey Cameron Lammas.
Rosie Myers rode the Mike Breslin-trained Tarihira into second place, 0.2 lengths behind and Troup Road (trainer Matthew Eales) and Darryl Bradley were a further 2.2 lengths behind in third.
"It's a case of us putting him in the race more and being a little more competitive early but the horse might not want that, you know," Lowry said of Kininmont.
A bearded Lammas said Real Thirsty did only what he had to for a horse who was "quite lazy".
"He's done enough to win the race, which is pretty unusual for an Aussie to hit the front and wait for the other horse," the 32-year-old jockey from Rotorua said of the 4-year-old gelding who he suspected had a jumping career although he wasn't quite ready yet.
So what's with the facial growth, mate?
"Oh I had it for duck shooting so I decided to keep it on and everyone started moaning about it," he said with a laugh, adding he might have a change in the new season.
The co-trainers' Ambitious Unicorn came third in the 1200m Fasttrackinsurance race 2 as the Lisa Latta-trained Fetching, with jockey Timothy Johnson, claimed the line honours with Malacanto (Darryl Bradley) 0.3 length behind. A happy Lowry will give Ambitious Unicorn a week off in the water walker before lining him up for Taupo on August 19.
