Princess waits for the points
The handicapper will do the programming for brave little sprinting mare Princess Kereru in coming weeks.
Because co-trainer Ken Kelso says he will have to wait to see how many rating points she gets for winning the $100,000 Waikato Stud Plate at Ellerslie on Saturday before deciding where Princess Kereru goes next.
Princess Kereru made the most of a beautiful ride from Cameron Lammas to extract some revenge over her Railway conqueror Santa Monica in the group three, with the pair split by Ronchi right on the line.
With Ferrando setting up a 1:9.5 tempo, Princess Kereru was able to sit three back on the inside and find a gap at the right time for the biggest win of her career.
Kelso would like to take her to the $50,000 Lightning Handicap at Trentham on Saturday week but with the race being a handicap he will wait to see what the win does to her rating
“She is not a really big mare so I don’t want to be going to a handicap carrying too much weight,” says Kelso.
“I think she can come back next season too, I have had no indication the connections want to retire her.”
Jockeys’ merry-go-round
While Princess Kereru could be at Trentham on Saturday week, plenty of big names won’t be — especially in the jockeys’ ranks.
The connections of Oaks runners have been left scrambling for elite riders as some big names are almost certain to be missing.
Not only was Craig Grylls suspended on Saturday but so too were Jonathan Riddell and Jason Waddell, all of whom could have had serious Oaks rides. Grylls and Riddell are free to ride on Cup Day at Ellerslie next Saturday before starting their suspensions, but Waddell is set to be out of riding until April 18.
Opie Bosson will also miss the Trentham meeting as he is committed to riding superstar juvenile Probabeel in Sydney, with the Karaka Million winner to trial tomorrow at Rotorua in preparation for her trip.
While Leith Innes returns from a five-week break this week there have still to be overtures made to overseas riders like Glen Boss to gauge whether they would return for the Trentham meeting.
The Oaks picture is further clouded by a couple of potential starters still needing to make late payments to be eligible but the classic has some real depth to it now after Pinmedown’s Sunline Vase win on Saturday. She was class coming from a wide draw in the hands of Jake Bayliss and joins fellow Filly of the Year front runners Queen Of Diamonds and Imelda Mary as the favourites for the Oaks, which will also decide the FOTY title.
Top training
On a day of spectacular efforts the training performance behind Qiji Express was almost overlooked.
The three-year-old son of Shamexpress hadn’t raced, or even trialled, since his eighth in the 2000 Guineas nearly four months earlier but burst through the inside to win the Mufhasa Fasttrack Stakes from She’s A Thief.
He heads to Trentham for the $100,000 Wellington Guineas and his win was one of three on the day for trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, taking them two clear of Jamie Richards in an epic battle for the trainer’s premiership.