The Cootamundra Cup is the next stop of Kerry Weir’s hit list after Sand Dune was an impressive winner of the Eacom Griffith Cup (1350m) on Saturday.
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The Tumut trainer continued his hot run of form by taking out the delayed feature and now has Cootamundra’s biggest race in his sights.
Weir added to his lead in the Southern District premiership when Sand Dune swamped his rivals late in win at Griffith.
In a blistering move, Sand Dune ($7) charged from near the back of the field to run past his rivals.
Dominating in the straight, the eight-year-old went on to defeat Black Fusion ($4.80) by 3.5 lengths.
Sand Dune is a horse that races best when coming from the rear of the field and Weir was concerned the race and condition of the track wouldn’t suit his usual racing pattern.
However, he couldn’t have been happier with the effort.
“They went pretty hard it in, he was back second last but when Megan pulled him to the outside at about the 400 he stormed down the outside and won it going away,” Weir said.
“It was pretty impressive actually.”
Weir thought the eight-year-old not only appreciated the drop in grade to his most recent efforts, but also the rise in distance.
In an attempt to gain a start in the $80,000 Snake Gully Cup at Gundagai, Weir tried to keep racing the son of Thorn Park over 1200 metres, but found it wasn’t as suitable.
Weir believes he will be even better suited to racing at Cootamundra on December 10.
The $25,000 feature is over the 1600 metres, a distance Weir believes Sand Dune performs his best at.
“We tried to get him into the Snake Gully Cup so we kept him over the 1200-metre races, but the mile is his go,” Weir said.
We will get him up to the mile now and head over to the Coota Cup in a fortnight.
- Kerry Weir
“We will get him up to the mile now and head over to the Coota Cup in a fortnight.
“That is his go – the 1400 to the mile.”
The Griffith Cup was one of two wins for apprentice jockey Megan Taylor after an earlier win for Jerilderie trainer Phil Sweeney.
Taylor is also in front in the jockeys premiership and Weir has been impressed with her efforts in the saddle.
“She is flying too,” he said.
“She is getting winners left, right and centre.”