Leading Kiwi stables target Queensland carnival
Two of New Zealand’s biggest stables both now have triple threats heading for the Queensland winter carnival.
While some of our elite 3-year-olds such as New Zealand Derby quinellamates Orchestral and Antrim Coast have headed for well-earned spells, up to six other classic croppers could end up flying the Kiwi flag in the supposed Sunshine State during the next month.
Supposed is the relevant term because it has been so wet in Queensland, the Gold Coast Bracelet meeting on Saturday was moved to the Sunshine Coast and held on a heavy10 track.
That didn’t stop Molly Bloom thrilling her connections on her Australian debut with a slightly luckless second in the Bracelet, even though she didn’t look entirely comfortable in the mud bath.
“It was really heavy but we were thrilled with her run,” said co-trainer Lance O’Sullivan.
“It’s hard to run that well over 1800m in that grade at any time, but on a track that heavy, we were worried she might only run sixth or seventh, or worse.
“So to see her running on so strongly for second was really pleasing looking forward to the rest of the campaign.”
Molly Bloom will now head to the Doomben Roses on May 25 followed by the Queensland Oaks two weeks later. She is $5 joint favourite for the Oaks with ATC Oaks winner Autumn Angel.
The O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott team also plan to have Tomodachi in the Oaks but which path she takes towards the Group 1 may depend on what lead-up races she has enough stake money to get into.
“She’s been there for a few days now, and after not eating much for the first few days, she’s settling in far better,” says O’Sullivan.
The pair will be joined in Queensland by stablemate Geriatrix, who was brilliant winning against the early pattern at Rotorua on Saturday.
The son of Almanzor swept up wide and blazed past his rivals, earning a plane ticket across the Tasman, where the stable will target 1600m Guineas-type races.
“He’s out of a sprinting mare and we see him as a good miler in the making, so he has options, not only in Queensland, but also next season after a break, when he could win a good race.”
The O’Sullivan-Scott trio of reps could be matched by Cambridge trainer Andrew Forsman, who continued a good past three months of black type results when Positivity won the A$170,000 South Australia Classic on Saturday.
She won’t be heading to Queensland, as she has earned a spell, but stablemates Moonlight Magic and First Innings landed in Australia on the weekend.
“I’m aiming them at the Oaks and the Derby, and ideally, I’d like to get First Innings into the Rough Habit this weekend,” says Forsman.
“Like so many horses from New Zealand, they can struggle to get into these races because they haven’t earned enough money, but there’s a race at Ipswich for horses like him that we might have to go to instead.
“His target is the Derby, while Moonlight Magic will be set for the Oaks, but she has options.
“As she showed winning at Ellerslie, she can handle wet tracks, and because she has enough stake money, she could get into most of the good races, and that could even include the Derby.”
Forsman is also likely to send his talented by often luckless filly Mary Shan to Queensland after she was a close-up fourth coming wide on the track against the older mares in the Rotorua ITM Stakes on Saturday.
“She’s only had two runs back and could fit into a few different races over there, so I’m pretty sure she will head over as well.”
The six 3-year-olds aside, New Zealand could have high-class mares La Crique and Babylon Berlin at the Queensland carnival.
La Crique did enough when a close second on Saturday to suggest she should be jumping on a plane, and being a mare proficient from 1600m to 2000m and able to handle soft conditions, she also has multiple potential targets.