Bendigo trainer Adam O'Neill aims to boost strike rate

O’Neill did not have to wait long to score his first winner of the new year, with recycled galloper Thai Connection saluting at Tuesday’s Hanging Rock meeting.

The eight-year-old’s win gave the Bendigo trainer a pair of wins from his last three starters.

His final runner for 2018, Tycoon Roxy won at Geelong on Boxing Day.

O’Neill, whose last 21 starters have produced four wins and five placings, is eager to continue the momentum.

“We’re ticking along pretty well – we always used to be a good stable strike rate wise – we won the (Bendigo Trainers’ Association) strike rate award two out of three years going back a few years,” he said.

“We’ve sort of strayed a little bit the last two seasons with not much luck, but we are back now with a nice group of horses here at the moment.

“We have a really nice two-year-old by (2013 Melbourne Cup winner) Fiorente called Celtic Samurai, who I reckon will make the grade.

“He has the same group of owners as a horse of mine who ran in the Bendigo Cup a couple of years ago (Desert Samurai) and they are hoping to replicate that or better.

“Desert Samurai was a pretty good horse for me, but this Fiorente horse is as nice a two-year-old as I have had coming through in very long time.”

Approaching 60 career winners, O’Neill is still chasing an elusive first metropolitan success.

He hopes his four-year-old mare Tycoon Roxy, who finished full of running to win at Geelong, might be capable of stepping up to city grade.

The mare has won two of three starts this preparation at Mortlake and Geelong, and was second in her only other run at Donald.

“She is a horse I have had since she was young – she came to me as a two-year-old and we have taken our time with her,” O’Neill said.

“I’ve always had a bit of an opinion of her and now she’s really taken the next step.

“The next step now for her is probably the city – the jockey (Dean Holland) got off the horse the other day and said she’s probably up to it.

“She’ll improve on that run as well – I reckon she has a bright future.”

O’Neill, who has 10 horses currently in work, said much of the satisfaction evolving from Thai Connection’s Hanging Rock win centred on the veteran galloper being ridden by Bendigo jockey John Keating.

“It was great for him, he does a lot of work for me at the track and lately he has had to watch others win on our horses, but he’s finally been able to get one home himself,” he said.

It was Keating’s first success in the saddle since his Cup day treble at Wycheproof in November.

O’Neill had adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach to both Tycoon Roxy and Thai Connection’s next runs.