Carston opens cup week with a double

Andrew Carston made an exciting start to New Zealand Cup Week at Riccarton on Saturday, producing a timely double with Giggly Gal and Knockingatthedoor successful for two of his biggest supporters.

The Riccarton trainer enjoyed a particularly satisfying day with both winners representing owners who have been longstanding supporters of his stable, with Taimate Equine and Glenn and Lynne Ritchie rewarded for their continued faith.

Giggly Gal was first to strike when she produced a strong finishing effort to win the Road Metals Premier (1600m), with Lily Sutherland aboard.

The four-year-old daughter of Super Seth had shown promise in two previous starts this preparation, but had been hampered by bad luck and difficult barriers on both occasions.

Carston elected to add blinkers for Saturday's assignment and, from a more favourable draw of four, the mare was able to settle closer to the pace before finishing strongly.

"She'd had two runs this preparation, both from terrible barriers, and she's run home good both times, so we put the blinkers on her from a good gate today and we were very happy," Carston said.

"She was close enough in the run to finish strongly and she did.

“The Taimate team have been very loyal owners, they've been really supportive of us, so it's super to get a result like this for them."

Sutherland gave Giggly Gal a positive ride from the outset, positioning her just in behind the speed in sixth position before peeling off the fence at the 150m mark, where she shot away for a comfortable one-and-a-half length win.  

Carston's second winner came later in the programme when Knockingatthedoor produced an impressive performance to take out the NZB Ready To Run Sale Trainers Series (1200m).

The four-year-old son of Super Seth jumped from barrier nine with Masa Hashizume in the saddle. Settling near the rear of the field he produced a professional run, getting through the big field with ease before running down Marokopa Falls to get the win by a short neck on the line.

"He's a pretty handy horse, this. He's got a few ticks, but his last run was good," Carston said. “He missed the start by seven-lengths but only got beaten by three.”

"He's a pretty exciting horse and it was a nice ride too.

"I didn't think he was going to win. I thought he was going to run a nice third or fourth.

“It was a very pleasing result and, again, they’re very loyal owners of mine, it’s just great to have a horse and owners like these."

After a couple of months in which his horses had been performing consistently without converting those efforts into wins, delivering two victories for such loyal supporters on one of the biggest days of the Canterbury racing calendar was particularly rewarding for Carston.

The stable now looks ahead to Wednesday where they’ll be well represented again, and next Saturday, when Carston said both of yesterday’s winners are likely to back up.