Local trainer Leanne Gaffney is set to take her biggest team of the season to Sunday’s eight-race Devonport program.
Leanne Gaffney has saddled up just seven starters in 2024/25 and will go close to matching that number with six engaged on Sunday.
"It's a lot cheaper to run them on your home track," said Gaffney.
88 of Gaffney's 185 career winners have come in Devonport, and she has a good chance to add to that number with strong chances among her team. They start in the opening race with consistent four-year-old mare Lightmeupjazz.
"We've got the claim with Jackson (Radley) on this time, so I think if he can keep her out of trouble, we should be fine."
Recent $10,000 stable addition The Prayer is next up for Gaffney, looking to go one better than his narrow second at his first run for the stable last week.
"We always try to pick up a few tried horses and because of the different way we train, we have a different environment here and we seem to have a bit of luck with them."
The Prayer remains at 1350m for his second Tasmanian run but will have a different jockey with Anthony Darmanin replacing David Pires.
"She was a little bit unlucky, the rail was just off a little bit, and she didn't go down by much.
"Darma will be on board, so he won't miss her."
Coppleson is the lone 24/25 season winner for Gaffney, scoring the result in Devonport on 11 September. He remains in the same class (BM68) over the same distance (1650m) and Gaffney is hoping for the same result.
"He's a very hard horse to train and a hard horse to ride because you need to time your run because once he hits the front, he flicks his ears, and he waits."
Those traits weren't a problem for Coppleson last start, only sticking his nose out on the line, in a deceptive photo finish.
"He was very lucky in that finish, I don't think any of the jockeys knew who won.
"He's come from a very big stable where he was probably just a number. He's a lot happier now and has done well since he got used to our way of going."
Five-time winner Cornelian Bay is one of the better-performed horses in Gaffney's stable, and he'll carry a big weight in a BM60 over 1150m.
The 61.5kg is a significant impost, but Gaffney says the horses' size will help offset the weight.
"We don't have a lot of choice. He's a very big horse, he's seventeen-three now, and I hope he's finished growing, that's been a lot of his trouble.
"I was really pleased with his first-up run, a few horses were scratched, which pulled speed out of the race, and I thought he did well."
Bluff Point and Stilettos round out Gaffney's team and the trainer expects improvement from their most recent outings.
Based on the family property at Thirlstane, Gaffney expects her stable to ramp up as the Summer Racing Festival approaches.
"We're looking to get more stables, but nothing has worked out at the moment.
"We've got a big team of three-year-olds coming up and probably nearly as many two-year-olds, which is why we're looking to get some more stables on the track.
"I think some of the young ones are quite promising, so fingers crossed we can get a bit of luck over the Carnival."
