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Richard Laming is sending his rugged New Zealand-bred stayer Sly Romance home.
The Victorian trainer has eyes for the Gr.3 Wallaceville Estate Wellington Cup at Trentham on Saturday week for his son of Pentire.
“He flies out tonight – he’s a genuine two miler, the further the better for him,” Laming said.Sly Romance’s depths of stamina are emphasised by his victories over 4000m at Caulfield, 3400m at Mornington and his latest runaway success, under topweight of 59kg, last month at Moonee Valley over 3000m.
“The horse is spot on. He’s on the way up and he’s in a good head space,” Laming said.Sly Romance was entered in the Listed Bagot Handicap at Flemington on New Year’s Day, but the stable erred on the side of caution.
“We ended up taking him out, the track would have been too hard for him,” Laming said. “He’s ready to go anyway.”Out of the Sir Tristram mare Sky Trist who won the Gr.3 Queen’s Cup over 3200 metres, Sly Romance has won five of his 17 starts and Laming hasn’t discounted the horse making another appearance here after Trentham.
“We’ll see how he goes, but we might look at the Auckland Cup,” he said.Sly Romance, currently a $26 chance in the Wellington Cup market, will be accompanied on the flight by Laming’s father Bevan, who operates his own stable at Jacob’s Well in Queensland. They will be based at Anne Herbert’s Cambridge property.
Laming senior moved from New Zealand to Australia in the mid-1980s with his subsequent career highlights two Gr.1 Brisbane Cup wins with Desert Chill and a Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap with St Basil.He also took great satisfaction from the riding performance at Trentham in 1980 of another son Shane, who won the Gr.1 Telegraph Handicap aboard Flying View for the late Lionel Pratt.
“Shane winning that race for Lionel Pratt, to whom I had been apprenticed, was one of my biggest thrills in racing,” Laming said.