Good and bad news for Bosson, Entriviere
Opie Bosson realises the good news for New Zealand’s fastest racemare Entriviere may also be bad news heading into today’s A$1 million Doomben 10,000 in Brisbane.
Entriviere will start from the outside gate in the 1200m Group 1 which has been moved from a soaked Doomben across the road to Eagle Farm, which provides a vastly better drying surface.
Bosson says jockey mates he trusts in Queensland are telling him even if the deluge forecast for Brisbane arrives, Eagle Farm will race more like a soft5 or soft6 than the heavy which Doomben would have presented.
That suits Entriviere because while she can handle wet footing as a Railway winner over Levante and Roch ’N’ Horse, her sensational sprint wouldn’t be as sharp a weapon on a bottomless track.
But it also means if the race plays out more normally, Entriviere’s outside draw is a problem.
“You never want to draw the outside in these type of races,” says Bosson.
“I have already decided barring something really unusual I will ride her with cover so it would help her if the inside starts to cut up.”
Taking a line through Roch ’N’ Horse’s win in the Newmarket at Flemington in March, Entriviere may be up to this group of Australian sprinters if breaks go her way.
“She had two trials before she came over here and I also rode her in an exhibition gallop last Saturday on the Gold Coast and she feels really well. But she has now turned into quite a relaxed mare after she used to be very keen to get on with things in her work and races, so it is a bit harder to work out exactly how she is going.
“Either way, this week isn’t going to be easy,” says Bosson.
The predictions Eagle Farm could come up soft will be music to the ears of Kiwi trainers as almost all of the New Zealand-trained horses would prefer the meeting isn’t a slugfest.
There are four classy Waikato three-year-olds in the A$250,000 Rough Habit Plate with Dark Destroyer and Pinarello our best two chances, with Pinarello maybe the most natural stayer of the four.
Babylon Berlin and Letzbeglam give the Kiwis serious winning hopes in the Listed Bright Shadow Stakes as the New Zealand assault in the Queensland carnival goes up a gear.
Closer to home, the feature racing is at Rotorua today where Sinarahma looks a handicapping special in the $85,000 Rotorua Cup, which is likely to be her last race before stud.
The highly-rated Big Mike topping the handicaps has compressed the weight scale for those lower down meaning Sinarahma, who has a 94 rating, will only carry 0.5kg more than rivals rated up to a remarkable 31 points lower than her.
That coupled with the likelihood the track conditions will not be too bad means she only has to get away on terms and race up to her best to win.
Today’s other Group 3 race for fillies and mares over 1400m looks a lot more even, especially with class acts such as Mai Tai, Secret Amour, Oseleta and Sassy Merlot copping dreadful draws.