Pike’s quintet ready for big Easter meeting
WELLINGTON: Trainer Tony Pike has all bases covered with his quintet of runners for Saturday’s big meeting at Ellerslie.
The Cambridge horseman will be represented by hardy veterans Endless Drama and Rangipo in the $100,000 group 2 Easter Handicap (1600m), while earlier on the programme the stocks of his upandcomers are set to rise.
Among those progressive youngsters is the lightlyraced filly Intrigue, who tackles stakes company for the first time in the group 2 Championship Stakes (2100m).
‘‘She’s flying,’’ Pike said.
‘‘She just gets better with each run. She was a bit green to start off with but she’s stepping up all the time and was pretty dominant over 2100m last start.’’
Pike harbours ambitions of taking Intrigue to Queensland for a tilt at the group 1 Queensland Oaks (2400m), a race he won with Provocative in 2016, and is hoping to bank the lion’s share of Saturday’s prizemoney to guarantee a start in the classic.
‘‘In an ideal world, she wins then we’ve got no worries about prizemoney. If she runs second, then we’re probably only a chance of getting into the races we want to, so really, we need to run one or two to be confident of a start in the races we want to in Queensland.’’
Pike is also looking forward to unleashing strapping 2yrold colt Sherwood Forest in the listed Champagne Stakes (1600m).
Sherwood Forest has been to the races just once, when finishing a good fourth at Te Rapa in early February.
‘‘He got really colty at Te Rapa that day, it was just a bit busy for him and he got pretty wound up before he even raced,’’ Pike said.
‘‘We backed off him since then and he trialled sensationally on Monday at Te Awamutu.
‘‘I think he’s a pretty serious racehorse and I just think he wants to get over ground.”
‘‘He’s a nice big scopey 2yrold and he’s going to develop into a lovely 3yrold.
‘‘It’s pretty unusual to have a 2yrold freshup over a mile, but it’s just the type of horse he is. He looks like a 3yrold now and looks a genuine staying type, so I think he’s one of the few horses that will thrive at the 1600m on Saturday.’’
Saturday’s Easter Handicap has drawn a capacity field, with 20 runners to greet the starter, and as the equal toprated runner, Endless Drama will carry topweight of 59kgs.
Pike said he was expecting Rangipo to run a cheeky race too after a recent trial victory.
‘‘He’s drawn a wide gate, so he’ll go forward on Saturday. It’s probably the last roll of the dice, we’ve targeted this race for him this preparation. He’s an honest old boy but not quite what he was.’’
Pike’s laststart winner The Faith will also step out in a strong 3yrold 1400m event. — NZ Racing Desk