Group Three first-up for Sansom

Group Three winner Sansom will be looking to kick-off his preparation in style when he contests the Gr.3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

The son of Charm Spirit finished fourth in the race last year and trainer Phillip Stokes is expecting a similar result from the New Zealand-bred gelding first-up.

“He will run well,” Stokes told RSN927. “We haven’t got him wound up for this though, so if he is running top four or five I would be really happy with that heading into the spring.”

Sansom hasn’t raced since his unplaced run in the Gr.3 Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap (1400m) at Flemington in February, with Stokes electing to give him a decent spell ahead of spring racing.

“I am really happy with him,” Stokes said. “We went up to the Gold Coast, brought him back and gave him one run and he just looked plain, so we gave him a good break.

“We put a lot of time into getting him to relax a bit and to switch off a bit more. I would really like to stretch this horse out to a mile in time.

“He has got to take the next step to go to the elite level, but it would be good to head to something like the Toorak (Gr.1, 1600m).”

Lucrative bonus on offer for Oamaru Cup-Winter Cup double

The Oamaru Jockey Club is delighted to announce that it will pay a $36,000 bonus to the connections of any horse who can win this year’s Crombie and Price Ltd Oamaru Cup and the Winning Edge Presentations 124^th Winter Cup.

The Crombie Price Ltd Oamaru Cup carries a purse of $32,500 and will be run over 1600m on Sunday. The field has attracted strong nominations, headed by northern visitor Quiz Kid, who is currently the $2.70 favourite with TAB bookmakers.

The Winter Cup will take place at Riccarton Park 13 days later, on Saturday 7 August, and will also be raced over a mile.