Don Hugo after winning the Blacks A Fake
CHAMPION trainer Luke McCarthy will this week unleash many of his stars bound for the rich Queensland Constellations.
Former Inter Dominion champion Don Hugo will headline some of McCarthy’s big names headed for the Menangle trials on Wednesday.
After a massive 18 months where he won the Inter Dominion, Miracle Mile, TAB Eureka and Blacks A Fake, Don Hugo has raced just five times this year for one win and four placings.
“We deliberately gave him a slower start to the year, but then he got really crook when he was getting ready for the Nullarbor and we had to give him about three weeks off,” McCarthy said.
“Thankfully he seems right back to himself. I’m so happy with him at home and he’s ready to go again.
“He could race now, but there’s no rush. He’ll trial this week and then I’ll get a race or two into him before the Inter Dominion (which starts on July 4).
“I’ve got a big opinion of a couple of young horses, Don Hunter and The Niteshift. They’ll also trial this week and head to Queensland,” he said.
Don Hunter, raced by Don Hugo’s owner Tony Licastro, looks one of the best two-year-olds to race so far this season on the strength of his two wins from three starts.
“I really like him. He’s got the Australian Gold series next month and he’ll target the big two-year-old race up there (Queensland),” McCarthy said.
That race is the $500,000 Group 1 Protostar at Albion Park on July 18.
The Niteshift is a regally bred half-brother to former Hunter Cup winner Honolua Bay and has looked terrific winning his only three starts.
The three-year-old will kick-start McCarthy’s Queensland assault in the $52,000 Group 3 Redcliffe Derby on June 20.
“Then he’s got the South-East Derby (July 4) and the (Group 1) Queensland Derby (July 18),” McCarthy said.
“He’s got some real X-factor. Just the way he’s been winning easier races tells me he could be a really nice horse.
“I’ll take a team of eight or 10 up to Queensland. The (star) mares Eye Keep Smiling and Steno will be part of that, too.”
Former Kiwi pacer Pinseeker ran second in last night's Menangle free-for-all and is another of McCarthy's team on a Queensland path.
McCarthy said the next couple of weeks would decide whether his latest buzz stable addition, last year’s Protostar and Breeders Crown winner Loucasso would be part of his Queensland team.
“He’s literally just got here. I want some time for him to settle in and get to know him to see where he’s at,” he said.
Loucasso was Australia’s standout juvenile last season with nine starts netting seven wins and a second when trained by Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin.
Last week it was revealed Stewart and Tonkin’s relationship with high-profile syndication group Summit Bloodstock had ended and Loucasso changed stable as a result.
The explosive colt hasn’t raced since winning the Breeders Crown 2YO final at Melton by a stunning 24.5 metres on December 13.
PHOTO: Dan Costello
