Rosie in full bloom
ROSIE Myers was awarded the ride of the day by commentator George Simon after she steered Benzini through a needle eye gap in the home straight to win the $50,000 Kaimai Stakes and a berth in the $500,000 Auckland Cup.
The Hunterville visitor looked a forlorn hope to win the Matamata staying feature when he was still last on the home turn and in slow traffic.
But, with a perfectly timed run which followed the script set down by co-trainer Harry Bull, Myers somehow found the gaps and Benzini sprinted through the pack for an electric win.
‘‘I knew the ones in front of me weren’t the ones to follow,’’ Myers said afterwards. ‘‘But I got a dream run, there was a needle eye gap, and he was able to squeeze through.
‘‘I’m so excited about the way he finished off today.’’
Bull said their plan had been to go back to last, and ride for luck, if there was no chance of sliding across from his wide draw.
‘‘If he’d drawn inside of six today I would have been confident because he does have a nice turn of foot.
‘‘I’m stoked with that run – he really hit the line well – and we’ll, we’ll definitely look at the Auckland Cup now.
Well-timed: Benzini has enough petrol in the tank to win the Kaimai Stakes at Matamata yesterday.
‘‘We’ve always been excited about getting him up over ground but it’s all about timing and he wasn’t ready last year.’’
Bull said he would take Benzini to Ellerslie next Saturday for the $40,000 Nathans Memorial (2200m) – ‘‘to get some miles into his legs’’ before the cup on March 4.
Myers said while the Thorndon Mile had been Benzini’s big target this season, ‘‘he showed us he was a bit dour over a mile.
‘‘Then after he won the Marton Cup we threw in a late nomination for the Auckland Cup.’’
Myers said the Bulls were great family friends and it meant a lot to her to ride Benzini for them.
Dramatist earned a tilt at the $100,000 Wellington Guineas with her brave win in the Rich Hill 1400.
In a driving finish the Librettist three-year-old staved off the challenges of favourite Smarts Encosta and Massale by a long head and a head to claim her fourth win of the season for Te Rapa trainer David Greene.
"That’s not easy to do for a filly but she has the heart of a lion,’’ said Greene of what he described as a great horse with an even greater bunch of owners.
Dramatist had always been a serious galloper but had taken a long time to get fit, he said.
‘‘It takes a lot of work to get her fit – she dropped 10 kilos between her last run and today – and she will continue to race her way into fitness.’’
Greene said Dramatist, who was once prone to over-racing and doing things wrong, impressed yesterday with the professional way she handled herself.
That polished display was in part due to a clever ride by jockey Leith Innes who quickly changed the pre-race tactics and took a sit behind the pace on the filly.
‘‘She’s shown with that win today that’s she’s versatile and can sit in behind them if there’s no speed up front.’’
Greene said the roomy Trentham straight and 1400 metres would suit Dramatist in the Group II guineas on March 14.
‘‘She started to feel her weight (57.5kg) a bit in the last 200 metres today but she’s just so tough,’’ he said.
Dramatist clocked a slick 1:22.99, scampering over her last 600 metres in 35.63.