Respin’s success pleasant surprise
WELLINGTON: Riccarton trainer Terri Rae was quietly cursing her bad luck on her home track on Saturday afternoon when she received a pleasant surprise.
Rae was waiting in the fourthplaced stall in the Riccarton birdcage, convinced her promising 3yrold filly Respin had been knocked out of the placings in a frantic finish to the NZB Insurance Stakes (1600m).
Frustration instantly turned to joy when the judge announced Respin in first place by a nose over Beneficial, with a further nose back to Courte Zarindi.
‘‘I was watching a wee way off the line, but I was convinced we had missed the placings,’’ she said.
‘‘I was standing in the stall where the fourthplaced runner returns, cursing away, when they announced the result and I got a very pleasant surprise.
‘‘I asked Alysha [Collett] when she came back in whether she thought she had won and she had been convinced she had been swamped on the post as well.’’
Respin found her way to Rae’s Riccarton operation after having one start as a 2yrold from Tony Pike’s Cambridge stable for wellknown owners Jim and Anne Gibbs.
‘‘Tony had said to me he thought she would really show her class when she matured a little more and stepped out over ground. He was dead right as she has just got better and better as we have gone along and the step up to 1600m on Saturday was perfect for her.
‘‘She hasn’t had a lot of luck in this campaign, but Alysha gave her a great ride and she got the job done even though it was a heartstopper at the finish.’’
Rae will now look to the Warstep Stakes (2000m) on 21 April to complete Respin’s campaign before turning her out for a spell.
‘‘Provided she comes through Saturday’s exertions OK we will head to the Warstep next.
‘‘She was bucking and squealing when we put her out in the paddock [yesterday] morning after eating everything we put in front of her on Saturday night, so she looks to have handled things in good fashion.
‘‘Actually, keeping the weight off her is one of the issues we have as she doesn’t seem to think about anything but food. That’s quite unusual for a 3yrold filly but it’s a great problem to have as keeping condition on them is normally the main challenge.’’— NZ Racing Desk