Sheezallmine in tilt at group one glory
Sheezallmine will have her first tilt at Group One glory when she contests the JR & N Berkett Telegraph (1200m) at Trentham today.
The Daniel Miller-trained 4-yearold will head into the race in a fresh state after her last start heroics in the Gr.3 Stewards Stakes Handicap (1200m) at Riccarton in November.
Miller has been pleased with the progress of Sheezallmine and is looking forward to lining up his mare today.
“I think I have got her as fit as I can for a Group One, but it’s by far the biggest race of her career,” he said.
“When I broke her in she was a big gangly thing and she hasn’t got a great action, but she has got a real will to win and is a very determined horse.”
Meanwhile, Te Akau Racing’s quest to win the Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) for the fourth year in succession was bolstered considerably when Cool Aza Beel ensured his place in the field with a dominant victory at Tauranga yesterday.
The Jamie Richards-trained son of Savabeel made light work when defeating his three rivals in the Matamata Veterinary Services 2YO (1200m) and the focus will now be on the million-dollar feature at Ellerslie on Saturday week.
“We’re on track,” a relieved Richards said. “He’s a pretty important horse for us so it was good to see him do that. I thought he did it nicely and physically he has still got a bit of improvement in him for eight days’ time. We think he is good enough to be competitive so the next eight days are going to be very important.”
The colt was bought by Te Akau principal David Ellis for $150,000 from the draft of Fairdale Stud at last year’s National Yearling Sale and the stable will be hoping he can emulate their previous Karaka Million winners Melody Belle (2017), Avantage (2018) and Probabeel (2019).
A spiked temperature led to Cool Aza Beel’s withdrawl from a key leadup race last week, but he looks to be back on track in what is an important time for New Zealand’s leading stable.
“It gives us a platform to kick off the sales (with the Karaka Million the day before),” Richards said.
“We bought seven horses at Magic Millions, with shares available, and we will be very strong at Karaka as well.”