Winter’s comin’ but there is no quibbling — Rudyard on track
Trainer Tony Pike knows the clock is ticking for his stable stars.
Which is why meetings such as today’s Ellerslie fixture take on added importance before the weather changes and the Cambridge horseman and many others put their best horses in hibernation for winter.
Pike has a strong hand in all three black type races today at Ellerslie, where he can head safe in the knowledge the track won’t get heavy or even soft.
But it won’t be long until the tracks turn wet for a few months and Pike and many of other leading trainers don’t like to have big teams racing during those winter months.
“We’ve got meetings like [today] and the next two weeks at Te Rapa, and then we start racing less Saturdays,” says Pike.
“A lot of the better horses don’t like wet tracks but there are also less black type opportunities in winter and the horses you think are good enough to race at the good carnivals need a break at some stage.
“So meetings like this week will be the last race or second-last for quite a few of these horses.”
A race-and-repeat type open class horse such as Rudyard (R7, No 3) has been set for today’s Manco Easter Handicap since his third in the Aotearoa Classic on Karaka Millions night and Pike says proven Ellerslie form is key.
“We’re still finding out what horses like the new track and he is one who does, so he has to be a chance, although he does have a wide draw in a good field.”
Pike believes Investigate (R6, No 2) has the right form line to be the horse to beat in the Trelawney Championships but he meets an even field of potential future middle distance stars.
“The field is similar to the one he finished second in last start at Trentham without the winner being there. He’s getting better all the time, has a good barrier and Billy [Wiremu Pinn, jockey] is riding really well.”
The Trelawney is an interesting race, not only because of the depth, with Solidify the most proven contender, but because tempo and tactics could play a key role, as is so often the case in Ellerslie 2000m-2100m races.
While autumn and eventually winter may be closing in on Pike and other leading trainers, it is even more crucial for a filly such as Boss ’N’ Highheels (R3, No 8), who gets her first taste of black type racing in the TAB Star Way Stakes.
She is by Written Tycoon, one of the stallions of the moment who has had remarkable success with small numbers in New Zealand this season.
For a filly such as Boss ’N’ Highheels, being a stakes performer at two enormously increases her future broodmare value, so a race such as today’s is worth way more than the $100,000 stake for her and favourite Love Poem.
“She’s a really good filly and has the natural speed to go forward, so I’m expecting her to go well,” says Pike.
With so many trainers trying to cash in before the weather turns, the Ellerslie programme boasts some great betting races and value options.
The other domestic focus is at Riccarton, with plenty of northerners heading south for similar reasons, while Cambridge trainers Andrew Forsman and Shaune Ritchie have winning chances at Mornington today and Randwick hosts another huge meeting.
But away from Ellerslie, much of the key Kiwi focus will be on Railway winner Waitak in the A$5 million Quokka in Perth, where he flies the New Zealand flag in the 1200m slot race at 7.45pm.