Sportsman Can Excite Crowd Again

Illawarra Mercury

Friday April 4, 2008

By CHRIS ROOTS

WARWICK Farm trainer Greg Hickman didn't realise what "a people's horse" Sportsman was until he returned to the track a couple of weeks ago.

The eight-year-old had spent two years on the sidelines with a tendon injury and a subsequent bleeding attack as he tried to make a comeback, but the public still remembered him.

"It's funny, I would never have picked him as a people's horse but in the last couple of weeks since he has been back a lot of people have been asking about him," Hickman said.

"Every time he raced, there were always a lot of people around his stall, and I think it was because of his name more than anything."

Sportsman returned to the track with an excellent second in the Myer Sprint to Newton's Rings at Gosford on March 23 and will back-up in the $100,000 Freeway (1300m) at Kembla Grange on Sunday.

While he is not back to the form that saw him win an Expressway Stakes in 2004, Hickman believes he is up to another couple of wins.

"He is getting older like all us and has his problems," Hickman said.

"He is very relaxed now, and could still knock off a race like the Freeway.

"The one thing I'm worried about on Sunday is the second-up run after a long time out, but he is enjoying his work and, if anything, he has got better since the run at Gosford."

Hickman has booked Rod Quinn to ride Sportsman in a race that has drawn together a talented group of sprinters.

"I think Hadaaf and Fox Lake are the main dangers, but Stormhill can ran a good race first-up," Hickman said.

CHRIS ROOTS' TIPS

1. SPORTSMAN

2. GEIGER SPIRIT

3. FOX LAKE

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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