Split Secures Prized Jericho Cup Spot

Supreme stamina carried Split (Turn Me Loose-Cry For Terre, by Street Cry) to a breakthrough victory in Tuesday’s $40,000 NZB Airfreight Road to the Jericho (3200m) at Waverley, earning himself a golden ticket into the $300,000 Jericho Cup (4600m) at Warrnambool in December, reports nzb.co.nz. That Australian mission is well and truly on the cards for Split, whose impressive performance on Tuesday earned him the first victory of his 12-start career. Split was trapped three wide throughout the race but never looked like tiring, sustaining a long run out of midfield and surging to the front soon after the home turn. Tough jumpers Dictation (Solo) and Berry The Cash (Jakkalberry) gave chase down the straight, but Split kept kicking and maintained a margin of a length and three-quarters all the way to the finish line. “He’s not the sort of horse that you can pull back, he’s one-paced and just keeps on going, so she had to keep him in that rhythm and he just kept on kicking,” Split’s trainer and part-owner Jo Rathbone told loveracing.nz. “We definitely intend to go to the Jericho Cup. The extra distance in the Jericho will suit him, because he’ll just keep on going. Even today after the two miles, he’s pulled up really well.” The second Jericho Cup qualifier in New Zealand will be the $50,000 NZB Airfreight Road to the Jericho (3000m) at Riccarton on October 26.

Natural free-wheeler Spit (pic: Peter Rubery)