Guy Lowry is no stranger to longshot success at the highest level and he went agonisingly close to another major upset at the weekend.
The Hastings trainer produced Milan Park’s Adventador to win the 2016 edition of the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) at 80 to one and a decade later almost pulled off a bigger upset with the same colours in the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m).
Now operating in partnership with Leah Zydenbos, Lowry’s long-range plan with Magill was all but executed to perfection when the youngster finished a close second in the Ellerslie feature at a three-figure quote.
Milan Park boss Tony Rider bred the son of Farnan and remained in the ownership with Lowry and brothers Mark and Paul Apatu after he was sold at Karaka last year for $230,000.
“When we bought him he was always destined for the Karaka Million,” Lowry said.
“He’s not overly big and we spent the first couple of starts trying to get the horse to settle, all he wanted to do was fight.
“We gelded him and he went to the Woodville trials and ran second to Singletary and the form out of the trial was good.”
Magill broke his maiden in a four-horse field at Tauherenikau earlier this month to lift spirits ahead of the Millions.
“He was a very happy and sound horse and the rest is history, he jumped well from a good draw and he tried very hard for Wiremu (Pinn),” Lowry said.
“I never worry about anyone else’s horses when we set a horse for a race, and we had him set a long way out and were lucky enough to get enough prizemoney to get in.”
Magill will be given time to get over his Ellerslie performance with a return trip on the radar.
“He’ll have a week or 10 days in the paddock at Milan Park and we’ll assess things from there,” Lowry said.
“He’s an out and out two-year-old and we will look at the Sistema (Gr.1, 1200m).”
Meanwhile, the stable will also have three runners at Waverley on Wednesday with Curtsy in the Egmont Tyres (1650m) and Sunshine Ale and Poukawa in the Bull Penn Powder (1400m).
“Curtsy is getting a lot closer and will strip a lot fitter, they’re probably each-way chances without declaring anything,” Lowry said. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
