New synthetic race track to host 12 days
The new Cambridge synthetic track will host its first race meeting on May 19 and be utilised 12 times in the 2021-22 season.
This comes after New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) released its racing dates for the season yesterday.
The increase of racing held at new synthetic tracks at Cambridge and Riccarton Park has resulted in the relocation of licences from other venues.
In its first season of use, there are seven meetings scheduled for the Riccarton Park synthetic track from May, 2022, onwards.
‘‘The introduction of synthetic track racing is a key part of NZTR’s Venue Plan, and its impact was clearly signalled in that plan,’’ NZTR chief executive Bernard Saundry said.
‘‘The movement of meetings to synthetic tracks will relieve pressure on turf tracks that would otherwise be used in winter.’’
One of the significant changes made in relation to the 2020-21 racing season was the movement of the Hawke’s Bay spring carnival to two weeks later than has been traditional.
‘‘The view was that this delayed start to the carnival was successful and there was a benefit to holding these meetings later in future seasons. This change has been incorporated into the final calendar,’’ Saundry said.
The final calendar is the outcome of the consideration of club submissions by the codes, discussions between the codes and TAB NZ, and TAB NZ’s final consideration and approval.
Danielle Johnson set a single season stakes record for a New Zealand jockey last weekend and is looking to add to it today with some solid chances at Te Rapa.
Johnson rides Savy Yong Blonk, the $2.40 favourite for the group II Travis Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa today, along with several other good chances on the undercard.
Johnson has a virtually unassailable lead in the jockeys’ premiership with 145 wins – nearly double her nearest rival, Sam Collett, who has 75.
But in the past week she took her seasonal earnings to $3,434,088 – and past the previous seasonal record of $3,403,278, set by Sam Spratt in 2009.
‘‘There’s nothing that helps better than getting on fast horses,’’ Johnson said.
‘‘I got on some good horses for Jamie Richards in the South Island at the beginning of the season. That gave me a really good start and it’s kept going from there.’’
Many of Johnson’s winners have come from the Te Akau stable and she rides four more horses for Richards at Te Rapa.
They are headed by Savy Yong Blonk, a mare Johnson has ridden to three stakes wins this season, the most recent an impressive three length triumph in the group III Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes (2000m) at Awapuni on Anzac Day.
Savy Yong Blank already had an impressive record prior to this season but Johnson said she had improved with maturity.
Bernard Saundry NZTR CEO
‘‘As we outlined at the beginning of April with the release of the NZTR Industry Reshaping Actions, the racing calendar is the industry’s greatest asset. It drives customer engagement and wagering turnover to fund the sport.
‘‘We need to ensure we are maximising the wagering revenue opportunity, as this will positively impact returns to NZTR and, as a result, to the wider industry.’’
A total of 293 thoroughbred race meetings are scheduled to be held in the 2021-22 season, 13 more than were scheduled for the current season, but 23 fewer than were scheduled to be run in the 2019-20 season.
‘‘One of NZTR’s roles is to ensure we are putting on racing that maximises opportunities for horses to race, and we will continue to add races to meetings when demand requires,’’ Saundry said.
The number of venues planned to be used for racing for the coming season is 35, which includes the new Riccarton Park synthetic track.
‘‘She actually used to pull a little bit but she hasn’t really done that this prep. She’s obviously been around a few times and she knows her job,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘Leading into her prep in the Waikato Cup she was being half slow out of the gates, but that only lasted a couple of starts.
‘‘I’m pretty happy to be associated with her. She’s a dream ride.’’
The field for the Travis Stakes is significantly stronger than at Awapuni, with her opponents including Travelling Light, second to Avantage in the group I NZ Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) on April 17.
‘‘Obviously Avantage is a nine-time Group One winner and Travelling Light came pretty close to her last start, so she may go out favourite,’’ Johnson said.
Johnson’s mount in the day’s other feature, the group III Inglis Sales Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m), is Pazienza, who faces a much stronger field than the one she beat in a rating 65 event at Hastings on April 17.
‘‘I’ve never ridden her raceday but I rode her in a gallop on Thursday and she really impressed me,’’ Johnson said.
‘‘It’s come up not the worst field – you’ve got Babylon Berlin, who’s a real speed machine over 1200m – but I’m really looking forward to getting on her tomorrow.’’ Another horse Johnson rides for the first time at the races is the two-year-old Irish Red, who contests the Maara Grange 2YO (1200m).
training with the rest of the New Zealand sevens team, which hasn’t played a tournament since last March, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Clarke would need time to relearn the intricacies of sevens and also change his body shape, losing muscle and becoming leaner, so there’s no chance of Clarke being able to play for the Blues in Super Rugby trans-Tasman.
‘‘It’s either one or the other. So we’ll see how we go, but I think Japan just went into lockdown again, so it will be interesting to see what their Covid situation looks like in a month’s time, to see what happens in the end.’’
By playing in the Olympics, Clarke would miss the yet to be confirmed two tests against Italy and against Fiji, but he could be back in black for the Rugby Championships if it begins in September, which has been suggested. But what could lean Clarke towards choosing to stick with the 15-man game is that he hasn’t been happy with how he’s played this season and he may feel his game would benefit from focussing on making improvements.
‘‘I came into this year with a goal to be working off the ball and getting the ball a lot,’’ he said. ‘‘Whereas I’ve been working off the ball, but every time I’m running off my wing, I can hear everyone talking, like ‘Caleb’s coming’.
‘‘Last weekend I could hear Sam Whitelock say that every time I tried to sneak around the rucks.
‘‘Stuff like that is frustrating, but at the same time it is quite cool that I’m being so heavily marked. But it’s been one of those years where I’ve wanted to do tackle busting runs and get over the gain line, but it’s been tougher not getting the ball.’’
There was plenty of hype around Clarke last year after his performance against the Wallabies at Eden Park last October.
But as Clarke himself points out, this season hasn’t gone as well as he wanted with his game. But Clarke is smart enough to realise he should measure himself on his own expectations and not by what other people are saying about him.
‘‘I was happy against the Highlanders, but really disappointed in the Crusaders game, where I felt that my own personal standards weren’t really up there. I got stripped by Sevu (Reece) and I’m always wanting to run the ball as hard as I can.
‘‘That was frustrating, because it was around the 30-minute mark and I hadn’t touched the ball the whole first half.
‘‘So my first occasion with the ball was getting stripped and stuff like that I never want to do, because I want to have high standards in the game and expect a lot from myself.
‘‘There were a few tears after that game!’’