After running half a dozen horses at the last Towac Park meet and finding not much, Brian Gentle has just one entry for Orange’s races on Friday.
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He will be debuting three-year-old gelding Exterminate in the Oriana Orange Maiden Handicap over 1300 metres.
Gentle said he’ll look to be building Exterminate to running over a mile, which is the distance he thinks will suit it, but wouldn’t be surprised if a few people are surprised by the debutant.
“If [the track] plays fair he’s a fair chance to run over the top of them,” Gentle said.
“He’s shown some good ability.”
He said he isn’t putting a cap on Exterminate’s potential, but said a placing wasn’t out of the equation.
“It wouldn’t surprise me at all but it depends on how the track plays,” he said.
“A lot of his early trials and preparation was on the Towac track, generally you get that home track advantage of up to 3 lengths.”
If he was running 1000 they’d run him off his legs, hopefully he’ll have a bit of balance.
- Brian Gentle
The Bendigo and Orange-based trainer said Exterminate will look to sit in the pack and “run over the top of them” as opposed to racing out in front, but it all relies on a fair track at Towac Park.
“He’s trialled really well, good ability and he’ll do well next preparation and goes just over 1300,” Gentle said.
“If he was running 1000 they’d run him off his legs, hopefully he’ll have a bit of balance … he’ll be mid-field running with the pack, come home at the end.”
Exterminate ran second in a trial run at Bathurst last week, emulating the same result at the same venue on June 3 before a 21-week spell.
The gelding was brought in Dubbo by Gentle’s father, and the pair co-own the horse, which Gentle said would be a nice touch.
Exterminate will line up in the third race at Towac Park, which begins at 2.40pm.
Orange trainer Michael Plummer will have five horses running, while Lee Van Den Bos has three.
Alison Smith has two runners while Brad Draper’s Yarramin will run in the same race as Exterminate.
Racing begins from 1.30pm at Towac Park.
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