THERE are quirky horses and then there are very quirky horses. Not sure what the name of the next grade up the ladder is, but LOOKS LIKE is one of them.
The stylish hot favourite basher at Ipswich on Friday is a patience tester, but Caloundra trainer PAUL DUNCAN finally found the answer to the former New Zealander.
LOOKS LIKE had some very useful form in his home country but Paul Duncan has had to switch plans a couple of times to get the best out of the Niagara gelding. Having just his third Australian start since leaving New Zealand a year ago, Looks Like showed his appreciation stepping up to beyond 1660m from 1400m.
You can factor into the success the casual attitude rider Luke Tarrant can apply to quirky horses. Rather than fight his mounts, Tarrant often offers that sort of horse with an attitude of “Okay, I will run with you, rather than force you to do it my way.” Looks Like appreciated that and despite being slightly slower away than was intended, he quickly rallied up along the rail and by the end of the back straight was trailing the leaders.
Early in the home straight the $1.55 favourite Corvo and Jim Byrne grabbed the lead and looked home for punters, but Looks Like gathered them in quickly and went to the finish untouched.
“Luke said the horse really appreciated not being hemmed in by other horses and went to another level when he was angled out to the centre of the track,” said Duncan.
“He was also better behaved away from his home track at Caloundra today.” That is not unusual for some horses who get used to a trackwork only routine at home.
“The best part of the win was that it showed he is looking for even more ground than today’s 1666m. The way he relaxes in his races he will comfortably get up to even 2400m.”
Interestingly, Looks Like is part owned by one of the owners of Verry Elleegant, Auckland trainer Nick Bishara, who trained the champion mare in New Zealand. One man band Raymond Tanner was the original owner and trainer of Looks Like and retains a major share.
