Promising duo chasing their own glory

THE Anniversary Handicap protagonists Kawi and Waikaha are heading down separate black-type paths.

The lightly-raced pair proved that they were two of the most promising gallopers in the central districts when providing the quinella in the listed Anniversary (1600m) on the opening day of the Wellington Cup carnival.

Kawi, who beat Waikaha by half a length, will race next in the $80,000 Taranaki Cup (1800m) on February 14, while Waikaha will tackle the $50,000 Wairarapa Breeders Stakes (1600m) at Tauherenikau on Friday.

Five-year-old Waikaha has had only 10 starts and will use the listed Tauherenikau feature as a prelude to her Group I debut at Otaki a fortnight later.

The Towkay mare will tackle the $200,000 Haunui Classic (1600m) at Otaki and a good run there would confirm a step up to a middle distance in the Group I New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie on March 7.

“She’s in lovely order and her work has been really good,” trainer David Haworth said.

“We will give her a crack at Group I company at Otaki. Puccini will be there but it’s not usually a big field and if she could run second or third, she would be a Group I placegetter.”

Waikaha’s owners, Christopher and Susanna Grace, have always been willing to give their horses time and the mare did not begin racing till last season.

She won at Trentham on debut and two starts later was able to run third in the Group III Cuddle Stakes at Trentham.

She won a rating 85 1600 metres fresh-up this term and has since measured up in strong company.

She finished fourth, behind Addictive Habit, Nashville and Silverdale, in the Group II Coupland’s Mile at Riccarton, sixth in the Group II Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie and did not get a clear run when unplaced in the Manawatu Challenge Stakes.

“She’s raced out of most of the time and well,” Haworth said.

“It was a very good run in the Rich Hill, because it was her first her has class done time right-handed and she got on the wrong leg.

“She was beaten by a very good horse in the Anniversary, and he would have been unlucky to lose, but she had to work hard from her barrier. If she had drawn an alley, she might have had another length up her sleeve.”

The only hiccup with Waikaha has come off the track, with Haworth struggling to find a suit- able jockey for the Breeders Stakes this weekend. “We thought we had Rory Hutchings organised but they told us on Saturday night that he would be riding at Wingatui instead. It was very disappointing.”

Waikaha was bred by Christopher Grace who sold a yearling half-brother, by Savabeel, for $160,000 at the select session at Karaka last week.

Grace is also a

part-owner

of Waikaha’s stablemate Endeavour, who had a week off after finishing fourth in the Douro Cup at Trentham.

Endeavour has yet to race past 1600m but has had only eight starts and her racing style suggests she will be at her best over a middle distance.

The Faltaat mare is a threequarter sister to Fears Nothing who won the 2011 Rich Hill Mile from Haworth’s stable.

Endeavour cost $82,500 as a yearling and Haworth paid $30,000 for the yearling brother last week, who was also the last Faltaat to be offered for sale as a yearling.

It was appropriate that Haworth bought the colt, as the Foxton trainer has had an extraordinary run with Faltaat’s stock.

Haworth has won at least 60 races and earned more than $1.2 million in stakes with horses sired by Faltaat, who died in 2013. The other Faltaats to have gone through the stable include Jurys Out, Rosina Lad, The Foreman and Loose Change.

Meanwhile, Haworth’s New Zealand Oaks entrant Queenofthepalace, who finished sixth in the Desert Gold Stakes at Trentham, will tackle a rating 65 1600m at Awapuni on Saturday.

Allan Sharrock, who trains Kawi at New Plymouth, considered running the four-year-old in the weight-for-age Haunui Classic but opted for the Taranaki Cup.

“It looks a nice race for him,” Sharrock said. “It’s an $80,000 Group III on his back door and he’s locally owned.

“There’s plenty of time for him to race at weight-for-age and he still gets in well in the handicap races.

“This is also a learning year for him. He’s a serious racehorse but it will be next year before he is mentally and physically mature.

“He had a week off [after the Anniversary] and I watched him work this morning and he looks terrific.”

Kawi overcame difficulties to win the Anniversary and should be highly competitive in his hometown cup. “If he can be in clear air from the 800m he will take some beating,” Sharrock said. “He will just keep coming.

“He did everything to get beaten in the Anniversary but still won and that was a bit spooky.”

If Kawi does win at New Plymouth, Sharrock will consider giving him a crack at Group I this term. “If he gave them a decent old towelling, we could look at the Easter or even the New Zealand Stakes [at Ellerslie].”

Stablemate Dont Gloat, who has won three of his past four starts, won a rating 85 1400m at Te Rapa last weekend and will tackle a similar race on Taranaki Cup day.