Hustler out but he’ll come back bigger and better - as a gelding

Northview Hustler is out of the Auckland Cup and into the paddock.

Trainer Ray Green made the decision to scratch the horse from his lead-up race at Auckland on Friday night after a substandard training session this morning.

And given Hustler is very light in condition, he will have three to four weeks off, during which time he will also be gelded.

Green says the five-year-old will stand a better chance of gaining weight if he is not a stallion, doing what stallions do, expending unnecessary energy both on and off the track.

Even before his work this morning Green relayed he was not happy with the horse who did not look himself even in his preliminary last week.

“He’s been training OK but he’s not the horse he can be. He’s as light as I’ve ever seen him.”

While it is a disappointing end to the campaign, Hustler’s owners missing out on a second cup run after his New Zealand Cup campaign was aborted, he still bagged the Spring Cup at Alexandra Park, beating Star Galleria, showing he had a future in the open ranks.