Kali’s bid on for Guineas
Cambridge trainer Tony Pike has confirmed high-class three-year-old filly Kali will head straight to the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton next month after her impressive winning performance at Ashburton.
Pike spent time with the Darci Brahma filly on Sunday morning before flying home from Christchurch and was delighted with the way his charge had pulled up from her exertions the previous day.
Forced to sit wide on the pace throughout the running of the Gr.3 Barneswood Farm Stakes (1400m), Kali treated her age-group rivals with disdain as she shot clear in the run home before cruising to a comfortable half-length victory.
Pike was pleased with all aspects of the performance, particularly the way his charge handled the travel schedule on her way to Mid Canterbury after the decision was made to bypass a run at Ellerslie next weekend.
‘‘We had a look at the long-range weather forecast as we had originally intended to run her in the Soliloquy Stakes (Gr.3, 1400m) at Ellerslie this coming weekend,’’ Pike said.
‘‘It looked like we might get a pretty wet track there so we rolled the dice and flew her down south on Wednesday.
‘‘She handled it all in her stride, although when Ashburton copped some pretty heavy rain on Thursday and Friday and the track came up a Heavy10, it didn’t look like such a smart decision.
‘‘We were committed to running and when I arrived at the track on Saturday, I was pleasantly surprised to see it was a lot better than the rating it had been given.
‘‘She didn’t get a lot of luck during the race but she was good enough to overcome that and has bounced through it in great order.
‘‘It’s four weeks until the 1000 Guineas so she won’t need another run, it’s just a matter of keeping her in one piece until then.’’
Kali is raced by majority shareholder Dick Karreman from The Oaks Stud, along with Pike and close friend Bruce Sherwin under the Frontier Bloodstock banner and Pike is keen to increase the filly’s future value with some group one black-type next to her name.
While Pike is busy with his domestic team and the upcoming spring features, his attention will turn to Melbourne on Friday night where star sprinter The Bostonian will tackle the Gr.1 Ladbrokes Manikato Stakes (1200m) at The Valley.
A close-up third last start behind Trekking, who finished third to Yes Yes Yes in Saturday’s A$14m The Everest (1200m) at Randwick, The Bostonian looks well placed in the Manikato although he looks like having to beat top Sydney three-year-old Bivouac to claim his first Melbourne Group One.
Bivouac has won his last two starts, beating Yes Yes Yes in both of them and will start a hot favourite on Friday night.
NZ Racing Desk