IT DIDN’T take Lochinvar Hugo long to return to the winners’ circle.
Successful at his first five South Australian starts, Lochinvar Hugo was beaten at Globe Derby when second-up from a spell a fortnight ago.
Returning to the same venue last night, the son of Sportswriter proved too slick for his rivals in the G O Silke Plate.
Driven by Matthew Smith for trainer Dean Girardi, Lochinvar Hugo was caught wide from barrier five before working his way to the lead.
Allowed to roll along at an even tempo, the gelding rated 1:57.4 over 1800 metres to score by seven-and-a-half metres from Carmy Dan, with Clarenden Valour four metres away third.
“That was a much improved run from him,” Girardi said. “When he got beaten a couple of weeks ago I think that was just the second-up blues.
“His work had been good going into the race so I was pretty confident he’d bounce back to a win.
“I was also pretty happy to draw Matthew as the driver and he rated him really well.”
With next month’s BOTRA Pacing Cup set the four-year-old’s main target this preparation, Girardi is likely to give Lochinvar Hugo one more start before tackling a Cup heat on January 12.
Should all go according to plan, Lochinvar Hugo will then compete in the Cup a fortnight later.
“The BOTRA Cup looks like a good series for him, so I will work out his scheduled around that,” Girardi said. “I normally race him every second week, so I’ll find a race for him around then.
“After that I may just keep him ticking over at home before the heats.”
