Lantry looking to rule in South Grafton Cup

Newcastle trainer Ken Lantry admits to reverting to Plan B with handy galloper Egyptian Ruler in Sunday’s $50,000 South Grafton Motor Group South Grafton Cup

BACK ON THE NORTH COAST: Newcastle trainer Ken Lantry is back on the North Coast after holding a stable at Coffs Harbour for years. He is chasing a South Grafton Cup victory with stable champion Egyptian Ruler. Picture: Trevor Veale

SOUTH CUP: Newcastle trainer Ken Lantry admits to reverting to Plan B with his handy galloper Egyptian Ruler in Sunday’s $50,000 South Grafton Motor Group South Grafton Cup (1610m).

Earlier this preparation Lantry harboured ideas of running the five-year-old gelding in the $160,000 Grafton Cup (2350m) but after a luckless run with barrier draws to decide if Egyptian Ruler would stay, Lantry decided to look towards Sunday’s feature event over the mile, a distance the gelding excels at.

“Because of bad barriers at his past two starts (1800m and 2000m) we had to ride him upside down and didn’t really get a guide if he would stay the Grafton Cup trip,” Lantry said. “We decided to come back to the mile with him.”

It could prove a winning move.

Egyptian Ruler has won four times over 1600m including the Quirindi Cup on February 19.

With the South Grafton Cup in mind Lantry has freshened the gelding for 29 days since his 3.3 lengths fifth to in-form Tucanchoo in a strong Benchmark 84 event at Randwick on June 11.

“I’ve just poked around with him since then,” Lantry said. “He’s been good.

“I haven’t had to do a lot with him because he’s very fit.

“He’s drawn good and has a really good weight (54kg). He hasn’t had that sort of weight for ages.”

Egyptian Ruler is raced by the Moorhead family – Ed, his wife Tanya, his brother Michael and the pair’s mother, Vicky. Their father Phil is a life member of the Clarence River Jockey Club.

The family run cattle at properties at Glen Innes and Baryulgil.

By American sire Henny Hughes, he is a half-brother to King Of The Nile, a five-time winner who ran in the 2011 Grafton Cup.

Egyptian Ruler was bought as a yearling at the Dubbo sales and has managed six wins and six placing’s from 27 starts earning $175,070 prizemoney.

“He’s a brilliant horse to have around the place,” Lantry added. “He’s a lovely horse to do anything with, a real gentleman.

“Sunday doesn’t look an overly strong race but then again these type of races are always hard to win.

“From the good barrier hopefully he can be around midfield or closer and hopefully they run along a bit which should suit him and he can be ready to have the last crack at them.”

Originally published as Lantry looking to rule in South Grafton Cup