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Camperdown trainer Denis Daffy is confident he has smart galloper Big Poppa Pump back to something like his best after overcoming problems he has had since his two-year-old days.
Camperdown trainer Denis Daffy is confident he has smart galloper Big Poppa Pump back to something like his best after overcoming problems he has had since his two-year-old days.
The four-year-old proved himself one of the better juveniles of the 2003-04 season, winning three races straight including an all-the-way success over 1200m at Moonee Valley before a gallant second to Barely A Moment at Group One level in the Sires' Produce Stakes (1400m) at Flemington.
However he was galloped on in a race at Caulfield when second-up at his next preparation and had a splint bone removed at the Werribee Veterinary Clinic.
That ended Daffy's aspirations of training him for the 2004 Victoria Derby.
Big Poppa Pump had another setback when his following campaign was cut short after three runs due to a wind problem which required an operation at the clinic.
"I can't speak highly enough of Dr Alistair McLean who did the operation," Daffy said.
"The horse is sound in both the legs and the wind now and I'm very happy with the way he is going.
"As a young horse he was showing staying ability and we thought he might be a Derby chance.
"He'll run a nice mile (1600m), but since the wind operation we're not sure how far he'll go.
"He seems back to something like his best and he's improving."
Since the wind operation Big Poppa Pump has had eight starts and was placed in four of the first six of those up to 1600m before breaking through for a win in a Hamilton Class 4 (1200m) on a slow track on December 2.
"His rider (apprentice Jamie Mott) said he didn't handle the going but his class got him through," Daffy said.
At his latest outing he scored again in a Ballarat Class 6 (1200m) beating Bush Boss by a half-neck with his usual rider Neville Wilson aboard on December 11.
"He showed a bit of heart at Ballarat. He kicked strongly when the other horse came at him," Daffy said.
"He's good in tight finishes, he lays his ears back and has a go."
With Wilson unable to ride Big Poppa Pump in tomorrow night's Geoff Murphy Hcp (1200m) due to a prior commitment to the Darren Ryan-trained Bush Ballad in the same Class 6 event, Daffy has engaged Melbourne jockeys' premiership leader Danny Nikolic.
Big Poppa Pump drew barrier six in the 11-horse field plus one emergency while Bush Ballad will have to jump from the outside gate.
Five-year-old mare Bush Ballad has won six of her 10 starts and hasn't been out of a place.
A first-up winner in a restricted mares event over 1000m at her first night meeting start at the Valley on December 2, Bush Ballad is chasing her fourth straight win and has been beaten only once in her past six starts.
