Another abandonment as Hastings succumbs to wet
Racing writers Tim Ryan and Mat Kermeen review the weekend’s racing happenings.
ONE: Safety comes first Devastation was the word of the day after the abandonment of Saturday’s Group I day at Hastings.
The club was devastated on a number of levels including taking a massive financial hit from the loss of five races. The course was sold out for the big day and so much work went into preparations for a large crowd.
Punters were devastated, owners, trainers and the jockeys who had the final say in pulling up stumps on the day’s racing were sharing the sentiment. The decision was made for safety reasons and the right call was made.
‘‘I just know the way things were done was right,’’ Hawke’s Bay Racing general manager Andrew Castles said. ‘‘The right process was followed and the jockeys came to their decision.’’
Prior to the abandonment Hard Merchandize won the Group II Hawke’s Bay Guineas while runner-up Bostonian slipped noticeably on pulling up.
TWO: Livamol date up in the air A poor weather forecast and other factors have ruled out any chance of the Group I Livamol Classic or any other of the five races abandoned at Hastings from being run in the next few days.
"The forecast is for up to 50mm over the next two days, so that’s one good reason why there’s no chance of any rescheduling of our abandoned races,’’ Hawke’s Bay Racing general manager Andrew Castles said.
‘‘We do hope to be able to run the Livamol some time in the next two weeks or so, but the exact details around that have yet to be finalised.’’
Discussions will take place over the next 48 hours to reach a suitable date. The final day of the Hawke’s Bay’s weather-battered spring carnival also featured the Bay Ford NZ Punter of the Year competition and despite the abandonment, a result was achieved in which the prize pool was halved and $10,000 awarded to the winning team.
THREE: Exclude the little guys and girls from the blame game In the next few days, the finger-pointing over the Hastings abandonment will be in full swing but only the ill-informed will blame the jockeys.
The stewards can make any decision they like following a track inspection but at the end of the day if the jockeys feel it is unsafe they won’t be going back out.
But blaming them is like shooting the messenger. Sure the consequences from the Livamol Classic not going ahead is catastrophic, take Gingernuts plight for example, but this sport is dangerous enough without sending jockeys out on a questionable track.
These people have children, are someone’s children and have husbands, wives and partners that depend on them. Abandoned race meetings have massive repercussions but they will never be as bad as somebody not going home to their family.
FOUR: Winx makes 21st look easy Winx makes winning Group I races look like a stroll in the park.
The heart flutters racing fans may have experienced watching the champion mare maintain her winning streak this preparation in Sydney were non-existent when she cruised to victory in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington.
Winx cruised up to the pacemakers rounding the home, leaving her main danger the NZbred and part-owned Humidor in her wake to record her 21st consecutive win. Ridden by regular jockey Hugh Bowman, Winx ($1.20 favourite) defeated European import Ventura Storm by six and a half lengths with Humidor third.
Winx is now as short as $1.25 to make it three straight Cox Plates at Moonee Valley on October 28 a feat only achieved by the mighty Kingston Town in 1980, 1981 and 1982. Imagine the crowd that will turn out that day. Winx has now won 25 of her 31 career starts.
Her remarkable record has seen her earn prize money of A$13,777,925.
On the Winx undercard on Saturday a crew including a number of NZ owners were cheering home Main Stage in the UCI Stakes for former Kiwi trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young.
The NZ-bred 3-year-old wil now head for a tilt at the Caulfield Classic before being prepared for a tilt at the Victoria Derby at Flemington.
FIVE: Good news for Heaven Rocks is great news for NZ Trotting Cup He can be an enigma but he’s an exciting horse with untapped ability so losing Heaven Rocks from the New Zealand Trotting Cup would have been a disaster.
Driver and co-trainer Natalie Rasmussen held concerns the three-time Group I winner had broken down when running last in Friday night’s Canterbury Classic at Addington but thankfully a veterinary inspection on Saturday morning cleared him of serious injury.
With just 20 runners in contention for the $800,000 race on November 14 and the prospect of less than a full field that will lack serious depth in the bottom half, the last thing the race could afford was to lose the second favourite to injury.
Lazarus is a dominant $1.80 favourite and he would be even shorter if Heaven Rocks was out of the equation.