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By Greg Prichard

There was plenty to like about Buck Pharoah’s first run after a long spell and trainer Neil Godbolt is expecting significant improvement on top of that from the six-year-old gelding at Monday’s Manning Valley Race Club meeting.

Buck Pharoah will start in the IA Mid North Coast Kristylea Cup BM 66 Handicap over the very suitable distance of 1005m and senior jockey Christian Reith remains on-board after piloting the horse in his most recent run.

Buck Pharoah (Jon Grisedale) lands the cash at Kempsey. Image by Trackside Photography

It’s a drop in class for Buck Pharoah after his first-up third in a Benchmark 82 Handicap over 1005m at Taree on August 16 and with that comes a rise in weight from the 55kg he carried that day to 63kg on Monday.

But the astute Godbolt, who trains at Port Macquarie, had the choice of going for a claiming apprentice and he obviously believed that wasn’t necessary for the horse to be competitive.

Buck Pharoah had not raced since November 10 last year before his first-up run this campaign.

He couldn’t go with the speed early on and dropped out to last in the seven-horse field, but then launched a solid run down the extreme outside in the straight.

Buck Pharoah ran out of gas in the last 100 metres but still finished a good third behind the winner, De Poet, and Lady Shenanigans.

“Yeah, he peaked on his run in the last bit,” Godbolt said.

“You would expect there’s a fair bit of improvement in the horse since it was first-up from a long spell and I see that in him coming up to his next run. He pulled up good after that race.

“He’s one of those horses that hasn’t got a brilliant turn of foot out of the barriers, he’s a bigger horse and it takes a while for him to get into stride, but he finishes off well.”

Godbolt said he would have preferred to wait a little longer than 10 days for Buck Pharoah’s second-up run, but that there weren’t any suitable races coming up for him after the Taree meeting.

Still, the trainer’s confidence was boosted by the fact Buck Pharoah had shown previously that he could perform well on a 10-day back-up.

“He won at Kempsey on a 10-day back-up in his previous campaign, so that’s a good sign,” Godbolt said.

“He’s a pretty good doer and he looks good and everything’s fine with him, so we’ll go around again.”

Buck Pharoah has a consistent record, with four wins and nine placings from 18 career starts. His record suggests he is best on heavy tracks, but he has also done well in soft going.

The Taree track was rated a Soft 7 on Friday morning, with reasonably good weather forecast for the days leading up to the meeting.

“If it gets into the soft range that won’t worry him and that’s handy to know,” Godbolt said.

“He’s had a few issues in the past that have forced us to put him out for a couple of long spells, but hopefully that’s all behind him now. I’m happy with him.

"He generally finds form early on in his campaigns, so let’s hope it’s the same again.”

*Gates open at midday. First race 1.55pm. Admission $10 and $5 concession. Winning Post Function Centre open with the Turf Bistro.

Full bar, TAB and bookmaker facilities. Visit Facebook page Manning Valley Race Club for more info.

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Taree here