{"id":259918,"date":"2025-07-12T21:15:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T21:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/259918\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T21:15:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T21:15:26","slug":"words-of-warning-as-superstar-steeplechaser-west-coast-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/259918\/","title":{"rendered":"Words of warning as superstar steeplechaser West Coast returns"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt is his first steeplechase this time in and while he is ready for it, it will also bring him on,\u201d says Oulaghan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be that disappointed if he was beaten because he will improve and hopefully this will get him fitter for Riccarton.\u201d<\/p>\n

West Coast\u2019s campaign started in a low when he was pulled up in the Manawatu Hurdle last month and while it was a race he was never going to win, it was a worrying sign.\u2028<\/p>\n

\u201cHe actually wasn\u2019t working that well heading into that race,\u201d admits Oulaghan.<\/p>\n

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe also had an off day but he has improved in his training since and while he ran second-last in his flat race last start, I was a lot happier with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo he is heading in the right direction but he could be vulnerable this weekend.\u201d <\/p>\n

The problem for those not wanting to take the risk on the giant jumper is finding one to beat him in the steeplechase, which lacks top-end depth.<\/p>\n

That isn\u2019t the case in the hurdle, where Berry The Cash has to lump 73kg against a host of major-race winners.<\/p>\n

He has raced at the huge Warrnambool carnival this campaign, so carried residual fitness to \u014ctaki on Tuesday, where he finished third on the flat.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is just a really good horse and is probably more ready for Sunday than West Coast but he faces a better field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berry The Cash has had an exceptional last two years but has rarely met a field as deep as today\u2019s and that, coupled with his 73kg \u2013 which will sit heavier on him than West Coast as he is a smaller horse \u2013 make it hard to back him with confidence.<\/p>\n

Unlike the steeplechase, there are plenty of viable options for punters willing to bet against Berry The Cash, from reigning Great Northern winner Lord Spencer to Happy Star, Taika and the in-form Squire.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s meeting is a winter wonderland for jumps fans, with three hurdle races to start the card, two steeplechases in the middle and the four flat races all being highweights, including one for amateurs, meaning the flat jockeys get to have a day off.<\/p>\n

* The Egmont meeting at H\u0101wera, which was abandoned on Saturday because of heavy rain, will now be held on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald\u2019s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world\u2019s biggest horse racing carnivals.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt is his first steeplechase this time in and while he is ready for it, it will also…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[27616,32454,3577,1071,53193,32004,79,99656,37601,34854,16,15,2711,7474,40328],"class_list":{"0":"post-259918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-as","9":"tag-coast","10":"tag-of","11":"tag-racing","12":"tag-returns","13":"tag-special","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-steeplechaser","16":"tag-sunday","17":"tag-superstar","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-warning","21":"tag-west","22":"tag-words"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114842338794868137","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}