Pair right up there
Trainers reckon Scott Base and Wyndspelle will enjoy the step up
Otaki trainers have strong chances in the Windsor Park Plate at Hastings tomorrow. Check also the fields and form for Hastings and Riccarton Park.
Otaki trainers Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard will have two strong chances in the Group One Windsor Park Plate (1600m) at Hastings tomorrow, and the couple couldn’t be happier with their charges heading into the mile feature.
Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) winner Scott Base ran home strongly in the first leg of Hawke’s Bay’s triple crown, the Group One Tarzino Trophy (1400m), while Group Two winner Wyndspelle pleased connections with his sixth-placing.
“They were two of the better runs in the race I’d say,” Benner said.
“I couldn’t really fault them and 1600m looks good for both horses.”
Benner has been pleased with the pair’s work since their first-up run and believes they will both relish the stepup in distance to a mile. “We couldn’t be happier heading into Saturday.
“Everything is going to plan, they have both been working well and they are in good order. We have got two nice draws [Scott Base — 6, Wyndspelle — 4] to work with, so we’re pretty happy.”
All going to plan both runners will back-up in the Group One Livamol Classic (2040m) on the last day of the carnival, before Scott Base could potentially continue his spring campaign in Australia, where his trainers have previously campaigned Group One winners Humidor and Vespa.
“There’s two weeks into the last one [Livamol Classic] which is appealing enough for them both, but we’ll just get through Saturday,” Benner said. “Scott Base could potentially head to Australia [after the Livamol Classic].”
Benner said he and partner Wynyard enjoy training out of their small operation at Otaki, where they have access to the nearby beach, which has been well utilised by Scott Base and Wyndspelle since their return from Hastings.
“We have 20 in work the entire time, we have a nice set-up right on Otaki racecourse,” Benner said.
“We have got Otaki to ourselves really, it has good training facilities.
“We’ve got the beach and these horses spend quite a bit of time out there and they enjoy it.”
■ Group Three winner Sherrif will return to the races in the Rating 82 Bay Ford NZ Punter Of The Year 6 October (1400m) tomorrow, but Roger James, who trains in partnership with Robert Wellwood, believes the son of High Chaparral will derive plenty of improvement from the run.
“He’s like a lot of our team at present having a first-up run, give us a month or six weeks and we will have a lot of nice horses ready to fire,” James said.
“They’re going to be vulnerable fresh-up. It’s been a wet winter and I am pretty careful with them on the training track when they’re rainaffected.”
■ The Little Avondale Lowland Stakes (2100m) at Hastings has been upgraded from Group Three to Group Two status and the Partners Life Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) at Ellerslie has been promoted from Listed to Group Three.
Both races are confined to fillies. Meanwhile, the Shaw’s Wires Ropes Uncle Remus Stakes (1400m), a threeyear-old race run at Ellerslie on Boxing Day, has been upgraded to Listed status.