Trainer Debbie Sweeney has her sights set on the Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival with her exciting gelding Chattahoochee following his pleasing runner-up performance behind Snazzytavi in last Saturday’s Gr.3 Easter Handicap (1600m) at Te Rapa.

The five-year-old son of Reliable Man was having his first tilt at stakes level, having won six of his previous 12 raceday starts.

“It was a really good run, but he was just met by a better horse on the day, the other horse (Snazzytavi) was very smart,” Sweeney said. “He tried really hard and I am very happy.

“It was a reasonable field, so it was good to see him measure up against that class. He is only very lightly tried, he has had 13 starts and only been unplaced three times.”

Chattahoochee will now likely have one more run before heading for a spell in preparation for what could be a big spring.

“He will probably have another run in three weeks at Counties, there is an Open 1500m, and then he will probably head to the paddock,” Sweeney said.

“I would say we will target the Hawke’s Bay Carnival with him. He is still a very green horse and keeps on improving, and his racing manners are getting better every time.

“I have got a lot of confidence going forward that he is going to measure up against the better ones.”

Earlier on the Te Rapa card, stablemate Kiwi Man was victorious in the Cambridge Equine Hospital 2400 under stable apprentice Ngakau Hailey.

“He is an out-and-out stayer. He has been hard to place with trying to get the right distances for him,” Sweeney said.

“I am not too sure what we are going to do with him, whether he will have another run or go to the paddock, we will just see how he is in the next couple of days.

“We are possibly looking at the Rotorua Cup (Listed, 2200m) but more than likely he will go out. He has been in work for a long time so probably needs to have a break before we get him back towards the end of winter and getting him ready for spring time.

“I would like to see him in a couple of the Cups races next year because he can stay all day.”

A day prior, Hailey was also in the saddle when the Sweeney-trained Ranger broke his winning drought in the Mount Maunganui RSA 1600.

“It was good to see Ranger back in winning form. I think it has been 3.5 years since he last won a race,” Sweeney said.

“We were more than likely going to retire him if he didn’t go well on Friday, so it was good that he got the job done.

“It was nice that Ngakau rode him as well because when Ngakau first started riding he rode him a fair bit.

“He tried really hard and hopefully he can sneak another one in there somewhere."