17 April 2020 | Duncan Dornauf for Tasracing
Tasmanian owned and bred pacer Zhukov Leis will be out to register his first Menangle win when he lines up in the Takeaways at Menangle Country Club Pace, for horses with a national rating of no higher than 75 at Menangle tonight.
The gelded son of Somebeachsomewhere won seven of his 29 starts in the Apple Isle when in the care of Longford trainer Todd Rattray but in 12 New South Wales starts in the care of James Rattray the pacer has been among the placegetters on seven occasions.
The pacer is reminding his trainer of his half-brother Rykov Leis who struggled to find the winners circle when arriving in New South Wales despite racking up a number of placings.
“It’s exactly the same story as Rykov Leis when he first came up, he never won in his first 30-starts but he always placed and paid his way, when he finally broke through then he went on his way,” said trainer James Rattray.
The six-year-old gelding has been placed in three of his last five outings including his most recent effort on 4 April where he led before being run down by 1.3 metres in 1m 52.8s.
“He is not going bad, he has just found one a bit better or things haven’t worked out for him,” explained Rattray.
Zhukov Leis gets into tonight’s race with the five-point concession claim for Hannah Rixon, with Rattray electing to accept for tonight’s event over another race at the same venue tomorrow night.
“He is in with a good chance I think, he has drawn a bit wide, I put him in tonight instead of Saturday night as he is better suited over the mile,” said Rattray.
“He has good gate speed to put him into the race, whether he can lead or not I’m not sure, but if he can get a handy spot early, he shouldn’t be too far away,” added the trainer.
Zhukov Leis is owned and bred by Trevor and Marjorie Leis from Smithton on Tasmania’s north-west coast.
In other news from the Rattray stable, talented Tassie pacer Harjeet is getting closer to a race-track return.
“He has started pace working again, I had a little bit of trouble with his feet but he seems good now, he is at least six weeks away from the race-track,” said Rattray.
As for Ignatius, it will be a while before we see him again.
“He is in the paddock now the Group 1 Wagga series got called off, we were getting him ready for that, so he will have a few weeks off before we get him ready for the major races over the summer,” explained his trainer.
Rattray has plenty of options going forward with the Inter Dominion to be held in New South Wales in November.
The Group 1 five-year-old Wagga Breeders Challenge series was called off due to the regional racing program in that state which Rattray believes has worked well to ensure racing has continued in NSW.
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