Marsh seizes Anniversary moment
Stephen Marsh will have a strong three pronged attack when he looks to Seize The Moment in the Thorndon Mile.
The Cambridge trainer currently has three chances in single figures for the Group I mile following Seize The Moment’s close win over stablemate Thee Auld Floozie in the $70,000 Group III Anniversary Handicap (1600m) on Saturday.
Marsh stable representative Rhys Mildon confirmed both runners will return to Trentham for the $200,000 Thorndon Mile on January 28 and will be joined by stablemate and last start Rich Hill Mile winner Ruud Not Too.
Seize The Moment, raced by the Go Racing With The Dancer Syndicate, beat home Thee Auld Floozie by half a length with a further nose back to Aotearower in third.
‘‘She (Thee Auld Floozie) gave him a good fight but he got there in the end,’’ Mildon said of the battle between the stablemates.
Mildon praised the ride of Seize The Moment’s jockey Matt Cameron.
‘‘He’s a horse who loves a dog fight so you go forward and get rid of bad luck out of the equation,’’ Cameron told Trackside TV.
‘‘He’s as tough as they come and it was a good effort.’’
The well supported Son Of Maher should take improvement towards the Thorndon Mile following his run for fourth - just one and a half lengths behind Seize The Moment.
Seize The Moment’s victory gave Cameron a winning double following his earlier win aboard Padraig, who thrust his name into Karaka Million calculations with a one and three quarter length win in the $30,000 two-year-old premier at Trentham.
Big on ability, but as green as the grass he was racing on, the Brendon Hawtintrained son of Power did everything wrong up the straight, but his big bounding strides, quickly put away the quality field to remain unbeaten in two starts.
Hawtin was quick to confirm the Karaka Million (January 29) will be the next target.
Raced by Tommy Heptinstall, David Platt, Max Brown and David Wilson, Padraig has been added to the Karaka Million market as a $10 chance.
Dreams Of Platinum and Santuzza filled the minor placings with race favourite Sensei just behind in fourth.
The Graeme and Debbie Rogersontrained Santuzza is Karaka Million eligible but the Savabeel filly is likely to need more stakes earnings in the can to qualify.
Galway Lil and Sainted Pearl were late scratchings following separate incidents where they dumped jockeys Rosie Myers and Leah Hemi in almost identical circumstances.
Both were checked by St Johns, with Myers given the all clear, but Hemi was stood down from her remaining rides.
Myers bounced back to win the following race aboard Akoya.
Meanwhile, up at Ellerslie, the Tony Pike-trained Felton Road has booked his spot in the Karaka Million with a long neck win in the two-year-old event.
Felton Road, a Pins colt raced by Frontier Bloodstock, is now a joint $5 favourite with Hasahalo for the $1m race.
Placegetters Oriental Dragon and Mighty Power are Karaka Million eligible and should go close to earning a start.
Pike picked up three winners on Saturday, with Sabotage and Blue Lagoon, both successful under Vinnie Colgan at Trentham.