Best known as the sire of Champion Sprinter Nature Strip, Nicconi is one of those evergreen sires that always has a handy horse out running for him and he had an eye-catching three year-old winner at Geelong on Friday that might have a lot more to offer.
Trained by Tom Dabernig and ridden by Jamie Melham, Oliveanotherday was narrowly beaten on debut last month and punters were sure he could make amends in the 1125m maiden sending him out a raging hot favourite.
He was held up for a run and it was looking like a hard luck story until he saw daylight and put the race to bed. Oliveanotherday took a narrow gap and when Jamie Melham hot the go button, he dashed with an electric turn of foot to win by more than a length on the line.
Tom Dabernig holds Oliveanotherday in high regard and has entered him for the Group I MRC Caulfield Guineas, but he had some anxious moments in the run.
“My heart skipped a few beats, but it helps when they have a few gears to get themselves out of trouble,” said Dabernig.
“To Jamie’s credit she was able to get out and get clear. If she had stayed on the inside near the fence we would have been a certainty beat.
“A big thankyou to Andrew Harrison who bred this horse and sent him to us to train. He was a little bit immature as a two year-old, so we didn’t get him to the track, but he’s got a smart horse on his hands.
“Nicconi’s are typically more sprinters and I had a fair bit to do with his Dad, but this horse should definitely get 1400m and beyond that we’re not sure, although I did put a nom in the for the Caulfield Guineas.
“That might be a bit ambitious, but you never know woth these good horses, they can sometimes jump the grades quite quickly.”
Oliveforanotherday is the first foal of Olive, a placed half-sister by All Too Hard to Group III Stirling Grove from stakes-winner Kalamata.
He has a pedigree that will interest the pedigree gurus out there with both his sire Nicconi and dam Olive featuring lines of Danzig, Scenic and Bletchingly.
Nicconi is one of the best value sires in Victoria standing at Widden at a fee of $13,200.
