Cluden trainer Terry Butts is confident bold front-runner Cleo’s Poet can back-up and land his second Townsville win in five days tomorrow.
Cleo’s Poet will run a popular choice in the Sky Racing Hcp (1609m) after a fighting victory over the mile at Cluden Park last Friday.
“All things equal I think he’ll win again,” Butts said.
“He’s not foolproof but he’s very game and horses with fight win races.
“It was a tough win last week, and although his rating goes up and he’s got more weight he’s won twice as much prizemoney as anything else in the race.”
Cleo’s Poet will barely have time to cool down from tomorrow’s assignment before he’ll be on a float to the south-east to tackle a 2000m race at Gatton on January 31.
Butts, who has a long list of feature race wins to his credit including the Townsville and Cairns Cups, said the six-year-old gelding would then spell before returning north for distance races in the winter.
“He’s not a Townsville Cup horse but there’s some longer races up here around the same time that should suit him,” Butts said.
“Kerry Walker has worked with me for years and she’s done a terrific job with him. He’s a lovely animal but he’s not easy to ride.
“We’ve been trying to get him to settle a bit better in his races and not go so hard. In saying that he’s a horse that needs to roll along and he tries very hard.”
Cleo’s Poet was bred by former Townsville judge Bob Pack and raced in Victoria before transferring to Butts in July last year.
The Poet’s Voice gelding has had six starts this time for a win and three placings.
In his favoured front-running role last Friday, Cleo’s Poet showed a ton of courage to win in Class 4 company over the 1609m.
He drops in class to a Benchmark 58 tomorrow but rises in weight from 54kg to 60.5kg on a rain-affected track that should suit.
Butts has engaged heavyweight jockey Carl Spry for the ride.
Despite the huge amount of rain in the city over the past few weeks, the Cluden track is standing up remarkably well and was in the Soft 7 – Heavy 8 range this morning.
The false rail has been shifted out a further half a metre to 5.5 metres from the 1000m to the winning post to race on fresh ground.
Further inspections of the track are scheduled for this afternoon and tomorrow morning with more rain forecast for tomorrow.
The eight-event card is scheduled to kick off with the first race at 1.37 pm and the last at 5.44pm.
Pictured: Jockey Denny Smith brings Cleo’s Poet back to scale after a fighting win at Cluden Park last Friday. Photo by Mike Mills.