Pal O’Mine making switch

Press, 21 July 1989, Page 34

Pal O’Mine making switch

Auckland correspondent Pal O’Mine, a highly promising steeplechaser, is to be switched back to hurdling next month when he heads south for the Grand National meeting at Riccarton.

The original intention of his connections was to head to Melbourne for the sAustl2s,ooo Hiskens Steeplechase at Moonee Valley tomorrow week, but some slight leg injuries during last weekend’s Wellington Steeplechase ruled the trip out. “He jumped on himself and there’s a few nicks on the back of his front legs,” said co-trainer, Kevin Crawford. “It’s nothing serious, but it will stop him going to Aussie. He’d have to school as soon as he got

that wouldn’t be possible.” Instead, Pal O’Mine’s final mission this winter will be the $40,000 Grand National Hurdles (4200 m at Riccarton on August 9. Though the talented jumper has shown his latest form over country — two wins and the third in the Wellington Steeplechase — he has also made his mark as a hurdler. Last winter he won the Top Dog Series in the Central Districts, through his victories in the Trentham and Wellington Hurdles. • The Cambridge jumps jockey, Brett McDonald, has accepted a brief contract in Melbourne. McDonald, after spending a few months riding in England and America, was called upon to ride Sharp As in the Grand

National Hurdles at Flemington on July 1 and he made such an impression he was asked to stay on in Australia. Jim Houlahan, the trainer of Sharp As, requested that McDonald remain in Melbourne for a week after the Grand National Hurdles.

And when McDonald guided one of Houlahan’s charges to a win over a hotpot in a steeplechase at Moonee Valley on July 5 he made an even deeper impression.

“Mr Houlahan has asked me to stay on until late September — early October and ride his horses,” said McDonald. “He’s got a few good ones and I’ve already got in the money on some of them. The offer fits in well as theje isn’t much happen-

ing at home for me at the moment." • Tim Wheeler, a prominent jumps jockey, flew to Melbourne earlier this week to “keep an eye on” Waimauku jumper. Bar The Shouting. Wheeler combined with Bar The Shouting, a member of Davina Waddell’s team, for a first-up win in Australia last month, then the pair were third equal in the Grand National Hurdles before winning the Grand National Steeplechase.

Waddell now plans to tackle the Hiskens Steeplechase with Bar The Shouting and Wheeler quickly agreed to head back to Australia to care for the gelding. X *