Lock Flying High With Return of Stable Star

Most people need an incentive to get out of bed on a cold winter’s morning, and for Te Aroha trainer Peter Lock it has been the return of his star galloper Hiflyer Tavistock). The dual Group 1 performer hasn’t been sighted on raceday since 2019 after sustaining a tendon injury, and Lock has taken a long and cautious approach with his return. “He banged a tendon and we scanned it, and it needed a three-month break,” Lock explained to NZ Racing Desk. “It wasn’t serious, but we gave him six months and we put him back into work and it had a little bit of heat in it. I decided he had been too good a horse to me for something to go wrong, so I put him out again. The vet said we could press on, but I didn’t want to, so he had another 12 months in the paddock.” The trainer divulged, “I just kept him at the stables and at my spelling block, and he was tearing around like a 2YO, so we got it scanned again and we can’t find any problems. Touch wood, at this stage it looks better now than what it did when he went out!” Lock has been pleased with the rising nine-year-old’s progress and was buoyed by his first public hit-out at Matamata last week, albeit on an unfavourable heavy track. “Sam Collett (jockey) got off him and was over the moon with him. He didn’t handle the heavy track and that will be the only thing stopping him from heading to the Foxbridge Plate (Gr2, 1200m).” Looking at the bigger picture, Lock would like to head to Trentham in January where he is looking to redeem a decision he believes cost his horse Group 1 glory in the Thorndon Mile (1600m) in 2018.

Hiflyer hasn't raced since 2019 (pic: Race Images)