Tasmanian-trained six-year-old gelding Hype has the 2025 major Tasmanian Cups on the radar following his impressive win in the $150,000 Rockhampton Cup in North Queensland last Saturday.
Longford-based Aiden Nunn trains the well-travelled Hype; however, Nunn is also a professional polo player, which sees his horses race more often than not outside of Tasmania.
Hype was a standout during the 2023/24 Summer Racing Festival, winning the $50,000 Sheffield Cup before running second to Ashy Boy in the Ladbrokes Devonport Cup in early January.
Nunn spelled the horse following the Devonport Cup with an eye towards last Saturday’s feature.
“We looked at the Rockhampton Cup last year, but a wet track stopped us,” said Nunn.
“It was always the plan to get there this prep, but we have had to change tact a few times due to the wet weather.”
There was a distinctly Tasmanian flavour to the Rockhampton Cup result, with Tasmanian-born jockey Teegan Voorham partnering the $14 chance, who came with a sweeping run from back in the field.
After starting his racing career in Ireland, Hype had run in four different Australian states before Saturday’s triumph, his sixth career victory.
“We will be back home for summer. Hopefully, he can have a crack at the cups next year,” Nunn said.
Another fourth for The Inevitable
Also, over the weekend in Queensland, the re-scheduled $300,000 TAB Glasshouse Handicap was run at the Sunshine Coast, with the John Keys-trained The Inevitable finishing fourth.
The race was initially scheduled for Saturday, 6 June, but was postponed by eight days due to wet weather.
Having drawn barrier 3 for the original race, The Inevitable moved to barrier 12 for Sunday’s contest, where jockey Craig Newitt positioned the eight-year-old near the tail of the field before running on strongly in the home straight to finish just off the placegetters.
The result followed his fourth placing in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap, which leaves the son of Dundeel just over $22,000 short of $2 million in career prize money.
Keys confirmed that The Inevitable will likely feature during the 2024/25 Summer Racing Festival, with weight-for-age races like the Tasmanian Stakes, Thomas Lyons, and Hellova Street Stakes being logical targets.
