South Coast Arden heading for spell

By Michael Guerin

Trainer Brent Mangos is taking the cautious approach but still with a huge end goal with late-season star South Coast Arden.

And that means the last-start Jewels winner won’t be seen at the Queensland carnival and has instead headed to the paddock for a short spell.

South Coast Arden capped a great season with his thrashing of his rivals in the four-year-old Emerald at the Jewels on June 6 in the fastest time of the day.

So dominant was he and so steep has his improvement curve been his connections could easily have decided to tackle the Queensland carnival where he would have been a shoe-in for an invite to the new A$250,000 Rising Sun on July 10.

But Mangos has decided the best place for South Coast Arden now is the paddock.

“We thought about it (Queensland) but not for very long,” he told HRNZ.

“I just think it wouldn’t have been the right target for him at the moment and the track and style of racing might not have suited him perfectly.

“So he is in the paddock but only for a short spell, we won’t leave him out for too long.”

Prior to his Jewels victory South Coast Arden had been brilliant winning twice at Addington, looking at home on the big sweeping circuit but surprisingly Mangos says that isn’t his natural environment.

“Funnily enough it took me a while to get him going left-handed which is why I took him down to Addington.

“As he has gotten stronger he is better left-handed which is important.

“But heading into the New Zealand Cup I’d actually like to keep him up here (Auckland) and race at Alexandra Park as much as I can.

“I think we have numbers up here for some proper lead-up races to the Cup and I’d like to support the club.”

That New Zealand Cup looms large as the obvious aim for South Coast Arden and he has emerged as one of the real dangers to Hayden Cullen’s open class stars and of course Copy That.

But after that Mangos will eye the Australian Grand Circuit, heartened by the words of Natalie Rasmussen who drove South Coast Arden both at Addington and at the Jewels.

“Natalie is adamant he is a Grand Circuit horse so we will look at all those races in the New Year.”

Before then Mangos returns from a driving suspension at Cambridge this Friday.

“I have a couple of my own in who aren’t stars but will have good enough chances in their grades on Friday.”