New Year hopefully new start

Start Wondering is at the top of his game for his New Year’s Day assignment, according to his Whanganui co-trainer.

The sparingly-raced six-yearold has delighted his handlers with his progress toward the Group I Sistema Railway at Ellerslie.

‘‘There’s no doubt he’s spot on,’’ said Evan Rayner, who trains Start Wondering with his daughter J.J.

‘‘He looks great and he’s working and eating well.’’

Start Wondering joined the stable after successful stints with Paul Belsham and in Sydney with Chris Waller where his time was cut short by a bleeding attack.

The son of the ill-fated Zabeel stallion Eighth Wonder was an impressive first-up winner for the Rayner stable of the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint at Te Rapa, where he beat the defending Railway champion Ryan Mark.

Start Wondering then stepped out in the Listed Levin Stakes, but his sprinting prowess was blunted by a heavily rain-affected track.

‘‘He just didn’t handle it at all,’’ Rayner said.

‘‘He had won on a heavy track in Australia, but it was nowhere near as bad as Otaki.

‘‘Johnathan (Parkes) knew 800 metres from home that he couldn’t win so he didn’t knock him around and the horse has really trained on well since then.’’

Start Wondering also holds Group I nominations at Trentham for the J.R.N. Berkett Telegraph and the Harcourts Thorndon Mile.

‘‘We’ll see what happens at Ellerslie. We nominated him for the Thorndon in case he might be looking for the mile,’’ Rayner said.