Victory Morgan courts success

If handicaps count for anything, Victory Morgan can make it four straight in tomorrow's $47,500 Ricoh Wellington Hurdles at Trentham.
The rapid riser of the hurdling ranks meets perhaps his toughest rival Solid Steal almost on the same weight differential as when he beat him into second in the Awapuni Hurdles.
In the same race, Harvest The Gold carried the same weight as Victory Morgan, 63kg, and finished 4 lengths away in third. By virtue of having subsequently won the Hawke's Bay Hurdles, he meets Victory Morgan 1.5kg worse.
But you get the sense by watching Solid Steal's recent races that he is on the verge of winning form, as he was in this race 12 months ago. He won this race a year ago with tomorrow's rider Jonathan Riddell in the saddle.
He then went on to win the Great Northern Hurdles at Ellerslie, only to lose the race in the inquiry room.
Of the three races this preparation only one, the Awapuni Hurdles, has been over jumps and he should be greatly improved by it.
That certainly looked the case when he plugged into a game third on the flat at Awapuni last week, in a race he could not have been considered a contender in.
There are a few chances but Victory Morgan has to be considered as one of the main dangers.
"I'm very happy he hasn't gone backwards since last winning," said trainer Shane Brown, who has done a fine job with the horse.
"I'm delighted by the way he gets into this race on handicaps. He's won the Awapuni Hurdles and he's only half a kilo above the minimum."
This race is going to be won by a horse that can really find the line in the closing 200m and that's what Harvest The Gold did at Hastings.
His Irish rider Stephen Gray has returned from Australia, where he has been recently based, for just the one ride, although he has landed the mount on outsider Nyazi in the maiden hurdle.
Astute trainer Mark Oulaghan is happy.
"I thought the Hastings track last start may have been a bit good for him, but he coped and this time it will be a lot more testing."
Mount Sinai is easy to underrate at times, yet he is probably always the horse to beat. He was beaten by a short head and a nose in the Hawke's Bay Hurdles, won the K S Browne Hurdles at Ellerslie two starts back, and you could argue he might have won the Waikato Hurdles instead of finishing second had he not misjudged the last fence.
He sits on the pace, is generally fairly safe and fights hard late. He should get some of this.
Verdict: Solid Steal, Harvest The Gold, Mount Sinai.