Speed of the essence for Busuttin Another good day for Hughes clan
Trent Busuttin is getting a second chance to win the Castletown Stakes, the race named after his father’s famous stayer.
Speedy Achiever, who made a winning debut at New Plymouth three weeks ago, will represent Busuttin in the $50,000 Castletown (1200m) at Whanganui on Saturday.
Castletown helped nurture Busuttin’s passion for racing and the Cambridge trainer would love to win the juvenile feature.
His first attempt came with Sangster, who was unplaced in 2011, as a $2.10 favourite.
Speedy Achiever will be at longer odds but made a good impression on debut.
‘‘I thought his run [at New Plymouth] was nothing short of fantastic,’’ Busuttin said.
‘‘He was four or five deep the whole race and probably five deep without cover for half the race. He was entitled to drop out but won with ease.
‘‘He has really thrived and improved since that run. It’s a handy field but I’m fairly confident he will be hard to beat.’’
Speedy Achiever, a half-brother by Stravinsky to the promising Foxton mare Endeavour, did little to suggest he was above average when first in work.
‘‘We have got around
25 unraced two and three-year-olds and, to be honest, he never stood out,’’ Busuttin said.
‘‘He was just an inexperienced two-year-old and ran fourth of four at his first trial [in March]. Then he won a trial hard-held and has kept on improving.’’
Speedy Achiever, a $40,000 yearling buy for Hong Kong owner Nestor Chan, will race in Busuttin’s stable colours, which are the same as those carried by Castletown. ‘‘It would be great to win the race with those colours.’’
Castletown raced for seven seasons and won 16 races and $2.5 million in stakes when trained at Foxton by Paddy Busuttin.
He is best known for his three Wellington Cup wins but also won a New Zealand Derby, an Auckland Cup and the Group I Caulfield Stakes in Melbourne and was placed in a Melbourne Cup and two Sydney Cups.
‘‘I was too young to strap him [Castletown] but tagged along with him and led him in when he won the Auckland Cup,’’ Trent Busuttin said.
Speedy Achiever, who will be ridden by Hayden Tinsley, was on the third line of betting for the Castletown on Friday, at $6.
Hover, who has won his past two starts, was a $2.80 favourite with Massa Lu at $3.
Makfi colt Massa Lu is trained by Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman who also have Benoit ($12) in the Castletown.
The Baker-Forsman stable are three wins away from notching 100 for the season and will have eight runners on Saturday, spread between Ellerslie and Whanganui, with Benoit the only one paying more than $6 in the fixed odds markets.
Gesemi is at $1.90 for the Cornwall Handicap at Ellerslie while her stablemates Nailed It and Tiffany’s head their markets at Whanganui.
Busuttin will also have his forces spread this weekend, with stable star El Roca tackling the Group II QTC Cup (1200m)at Doomben, in Brisbane.
El Roca disappointed when resuming in the Group I BTC Cup three weeks ago and his rider, Hugh Bowman, has switched to That’s A Good Idea on Saturday.
However, Busuttin has not lost faith and became less concerned about Bowman’s decision when he was able to secure Tommy Berry as the replacement.
‘‘I can’t fault him [El Roca],’’ Busuttin said. ‘‘His bloods have been excellent and he has been working well. He looks at the top of his game.’’
El Roca was having his first start for 13 months in the BTC Cup and also had a wide draw.
‘‘I had been pretty confident he would go a big race but you can’t beat those wide draws.’’ Kevin and Pam Hughes recent run of success continued at Riccarton on Friday.
The husband and wife team picked up a winning treble with wins to Super Trouper, Double Blue and Southern Raider on a good track.
All three winners came with four–year–old mares.
Super Trouper went back-toback after her recent Timaru win with a classy one and three quarter length win in the opening race of the day.
The four–year–old Darci Brahma mare ran a smart time of 1-09.31 for the 1200m with Samantha Collett aboard in the rating 75 over 1200m.
Super Trouper seems set for a bright future after picking up win number four from just seven starts.
Double Blue picked up the other rating 75 over 1600m in the hands of Darryl Bradley. The King’s Chapel mare charged down the rail late to win by three quarters of a length.
Southern Raider brought up the Hughes’ third winner of the day in a rating 65 over 1800m.
The Sakhee’s Secret mare made it win number two from eight starts with both coming on good tracks.
Apprentice Racha Cuneen brought up the 50th win of his career with the Peter Rudkintrained Galaxy Gardens. Rudkin picked up a double in the last race with longshot Summer’s Boy who returned a dividend of $43 for the win.
Dezzies Dream was an easy four length winner in the two–year–old event for trainer Sabin Kirkland who races the filly with All Black coach Steve Hansen.
The Coats Choice filly showed her promise when she went 1:08.86, quicker than he time of Super Trouper over the same distance.
Saperavious won the battle for the lead with fellow front runner Red Ripper in the open handicap mile and never looked back.
A perfectly rated ride from David Walsh kept the field chasing for the entire journey and Sean Bellew trained Saperavi mare kicked strongly in the final stages to win by three quarters of a length.