The Southland coach travels between Wyndham and Christchurch and works at Wag Star at the Regan Todd ground, in addition to looking after his home team.
Ferguson will play a quieter role on Sunday when he lines up three runners and has one outside run on WDC day at Winton.
Babe On The Beach (On the coast) starts in Race One at Winton. She last raced in March and had four training sessions prior to her resumption.
“She worked this morning (Friday) and we were very happy with her. She has had more training than we would normally give to a horse, but she had a tie-up problem and had to be scratched a few weeks ago. She seems to be over that now. She will have to bring her A-game, but from some of her training I think she has improved a little bit from last year,” Ferguson said.
Franco Seb (Vincent) represents the stable in Race Six. He was a good third behind a smart guy in Proposition Joe in his last start and this race looks a bit easier.
“He’s a horse that has probably surprised us a little bit. He’s gone a step further when he’s gone to the races. He’s not a superstar, but he’s an honest kind of horse. It seems like in that field with a bit of luck he could finish.”
Beluga (Bettor’s joy) has the stable colors in Race Eight. He broke the score in his last start but went well after that.
“He just got a little excited. We used him from the gate last time and he wanted to do the same thing. We added an overcheck, so I think he should do well this week.”
Ferguson has one outdoor ride, paired to the two-year-old filly Stranger Things (Tall dark stranger) in Race Two for John and Katrina Price.
“I don’t know much about her and I’ll have to watch her trials. I spoke to Nathan (Nathan Williamson who rode her at the trials) and he said she’s a really nice horse and she’s got a good draw. They’ve got the prizes pretty ready to go so I’m looking forward to it.”
Four heats of the WDC will be held in Winton. The sponsors are VetSouth Equine, Night ‘N Day Winton, SBSR/Diamond Creek Farm and Ultra – Scan Western Southland.
On Tuesday – Cup Day in Addington, Ferguson will ride two of his horses: Wag Star (Dear Lou) in the TAB Junior Free – For – Everyone and Massive Merc (Muscle mass) in the Saunders, Robinson, Brown Trot.
After six starts from the stand against good company, Wag Star returns to mobile racing on Tuesday against slightly less company and gets a good draw.
“I think this is an opportunity for him to drive a bit more positively. He has good gate speed and we will probably try to take advantage of that.”
The five-year-old has impressed his trainer during his recent races.
“He missed a lot and made it to the finish quite nicely. If we can dictate things a little bit, I’m pretty confident he’ll have a good race. He hasn’t linked the wins together, but he’s racing in the toughest class he’s ever been in. Work-wise, he’s feeling as good as ever.”
Massive Merc will face its toughest test on Tuesday when it heads to a capacity field.
“It’s a big field but he has impressed us every time he has gone off the track and his work has improved every time since. We are quite confident he will run a good race and we are very happy with the draw. He made a mistake last time (at Ascot Park) so I think it suits him better to be there.”
Ferguson has another big assignment on Friday when he rides at Marktplaats (Bettor’s joy) in the $500,000 The Velocity.
“I’ve seen him a bit and he looks good and he seems to have improved a bit since his race at Ashburton so he ticks all the boxes. I think because he’s a year older it’s taken a few more runs to get him tightened up. I think we’ll see him step up his game on Friday.”
Ferguson says he hopes for good pacing on the Show Day film.
“If Got The Chocolates took the lead and we were on his back and Got The Chocolates got a cheap time, he would be hard to beat because he is also very fast. We saw in the Northern Derby that he (Marketplace) can go fast and sustain a long run. With a horse like Got The Chocolates and his high speed I think we should beat him.”
Through Bruce Stewartfor Harnesslink
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