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Riverton galloper Shockallia is set to tackle his home Cup later this month following his victory in the AB Lime Wyndham Cup (2000m) at Gore on Sunday.
The six-year-old son of Shocking has been in a purple patch of form, heading into the Southland feature off the back of two victories from his previous three starts, including the Listed Dunedin Gold Cup (2400m) at Wingatui last month.
He was duly backed into $1.60 favouritism for Sunday's contest, where he was ridden by apprentice jockey Donovan Copper, whose four-kilogram claim brought his allotted weight down to 54kg.
Shockallia settled towards the rear of the field in the early stages before Cooper asked him to improve three-wide from the 500m. Sutherland and The Tui Toiler had opened up an advantage on the remainder of the field at the top of the straight, but Shockallia took chase and was able to show his class when reeling in the pair in the concluding stages to score by a half-length.
Trainer Kelvin Tyler was a relieved man when his short-priced favourite was able to get a result for punters.
"Being a short-priced favourite, I was relieved to get it off my back," he said.
"He is above average and is probably too good to be down here, so we will enjoy it while we have got him. He is a big, strong horse and has been given the chance to mature. He is at his peak age really."
With his charge set to lumber 58kg, Tyler was pleased he utilised the services of Cooper and his claim.
"He is going to be around the topweight for the next wee while, so I thought if we could get a nice three or four-kilo claimer that we could use would be quite handy. We gave him (Cooper) a chance and he has done a good job," Tyler said.
The Riverton Cup (2147m) is now firmly in the crosshairs for Shockallia, with Tyler hoping to give his local owners a victory in their home Cup after coming up just short in last year's edition.
"He will definitely head to the Riverton Cup," Tyler said. "The syndicate is from here and it would be a big thrill if they could win a race like that, they got second in it last year with Kilowatt."
A stakes target then awaits the talented gelding before potentially heading for a spell.
"He will then probably head to the Canterbury Gold Cup (Gr.3, 2000m) after that, it is weight-for-age and it is a good race for him.
"He is not really a wet tracker, so we will just assess things after Canterbury and whether he goes out for a short break."
The stable also enjoyed placing with Classic Diva in the Entain – NZB Insurance Pearl Series Race (1335m) on Sunday, with the daughter of Proisir also earmarked to head to Riverton in a fortnight.
"She always goes well fresh," Tyler said. "The track was probably a bit too good for her. She has won quite a few races at Riverton, so if we could get a bit of cut in the track, she'll hopefully be a good chance there."
