Fairburn hoping for more from Clona Ice
Brian Fairburn thinks his Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic finalist Clona Ice is still improving.
Fairburn hoping for more from Clona Ice
Brian Fairburn expects there to be more to come from Clona Ice ahead of the Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic final at Monmore on Saturday,
After chasing home Gary The Arb in the heats, the October ’23 son of Deerjet Sydney missed the break again in the semi-finals but flew home from well off the pace to beat Antigua Kestrel in style on Saturday.
He lines up in a red-hot final of the Category One competition this Saturday but his trainer thinks he has scope for further progress.
Fairburn said: “He’s been good so far and I think there is still improvement to come, as he is only a puppy. He’ll be a right strong dog next year I think.
“We gave him a couple of sprints at Newcastle and then there was a little open there, so we put him in that to get him fitter for Monmore and he won that.“
Fairburn acquired the promising stayer after he finished second in the Donal Beatty Memorial Corn Cuchulainn final at Shelbourne Park in June and he knows his charge will need to start better if he’s to land the £10,000 decider this weekend.
“We’re hoping trap four will suit him better. If he just traps a bit better, then I don’t think we’ll be too far away,” explained Fairburn.
“But there are some nice dogs in the final, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
While there are no firm plans as to what is next, Fairburn believes his dog wants further and a crack at the St Leger over 730m at Nottingham could be on the cards.
He added: “After Monmore, we’ll probably give him a couple weeks off and then try to find something. I think he wants a bit further so we could give a look at Nottingham ahead of the St Leger there.”
