Italian trotter thriving under Aussie conditions

EUROPEAN import Gandhi Mail proved he has no problem with adapting to Australian racing yet again last Saturday night.

Purchased from Italy by Norm Jenkin, Gandhi Mail was transferred to multiple Group One winning horseman Anton Golino’s Pheasants Nest base earlier this year.

Scoring first-up from a five-month break at Club Menangle on July 18, the son of Nad Al Sheba has built an impressive local record of five wins and a second from seven outings.

The gelding’s latest victory at Club Menangle, however, highlights Gandhi Mail’s ability to meet Aussie conditions.

Making his standing start debut in the Menangle Park Trotters’ Cup, Gandhi Mail produced a superb effort to capture the Group Three.

With Cameron Hart holding the reins, Gandhi Mail not only overcame a 20-metre handicap, he worked overtime in the ‘death seat’ before scoring by a metre-and-a-half from Cormoran Strike.

A stablemate of the winner, Almighty Fear was a metre-and-a-half third in 1:59.1 for the 2300-metre trip.

“He is a very serious horse,” Golino said. “He’s got a lot of class and has the potential to go a long way.

“Although it was his first time from the tapes, I’d given him plenty of practise and he took to it with ease, so I was pretty confident.”