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    • While there was a lot number of disappointed people the Randwick meeting last Saturday was called off, there was possibly no more so than Victorian trainer Gavin Bedggood. The Bedggood-trained St Lawrence (NZ) (Redwood) was down to run in the Premier’s Cup Prelude (1800m) on Saturday but after a deluge of rain on Friday night, the majority of the meeting was abandoned. One race that was not was the Premier’s Cup Prelude which has been shifted to the Kensington track on Wednesday with all scratchings from Saturday reinstated and run over the same distance. Bedggood noted St Lawrence would have been one of seven runners had the race gone ahead on Saturday on the gelding’s preferred heavy ground. Already there are six scratchings for Wednesday’s race with the field still remaining two over the safety limit of 12. Bedggood said transferring the race to Wednesday was not ideal, but the gelding will run. “He had done all his work around running on Saturday, but it is what is and he’s already up there,” Bedggood said. “We’re not going to get wet ground down here, I don’t think. “So, we’ll take our chance and the move to the Kensington might discourage a few of those better horses from stepping out and they might look for another option. “After all the scratchings, the field fell away to a field of seven, and I thought he was a great chance, but it was a very hard race to read. “There was a lot of horses that are early in their campaigns, a lot of horses from the same stable, so it was a bit of a raffle. “I’m not all over the form up there, so, for me, it was a hard race to read.” Bedggood will break new ground on Wednesday when St Lawrence is the trainer’s first runner on the Kensington circuit. “I’ve never seen the Kensington track,” Bedggood said. “I know it’s an assistance to be up near the speed , so we’ll see what it (the race) looks like once the final scratchings come through and what sort of field we are left with.” View the full article
    • Champion trainer Ciaron Maher has been pleased with the progress of his Kiwi-bred Group One winner Jimmysstar (NZ) (Per Incanto) ahead of what he hopes to be a lucrative spring campaign. Last month, a deal was brokered between managing owner Aziz “Ozzie” Kheir and the TAB to represent their slot in October’s A$20 million The Everest (1200m), and Maher couldn’t be any happier with the six-year-old gelding. The winner of last season’s Gr.1 Oakleigh Plate (1200m) and Gr.1 All-Aged Stakes (1400m) made his first public appearance of the season when placing in his 800m trial at Gosford last week, and Maher was pleased with what he saw. “He is a little ripper,” Maher told SENTrack. “He is built between a cross of a polo pony and a quarter horse. “He had his first trial the other day and I am rapt with the way he has come back. He will have another one of those and he is going to have a run in The Shorts (Gr.2, 1100m) and then it will be a month, a trial in-between, into The Everest.” Maher is also pleased with the progression of his ownership-mate and fellow New Zealand-bred Gringotts (NZ) (Per Incanto). The winner of last season’s Gr.1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) also made an appearance at Gosford’s trials last week, winning his 1000m heat. An elite-level assignment is looming first-up for the son of Per Incanto, who may be seen interstate over spring. “He has certainly furnished a bit, he has got good weight on,” Maher said. “His two trials have been very solid and he will kick-off in the Winx (Gr.1, 1400m). The 7 Stakes (A$1 million, 1600m) and King Charles (Gr.1, 1600m) and he might end up in Melbourne for a Champions Mile (Gr.1, 1600m).” Elite-level mile targets could also be in the offing for fellow Kiwi-bred Willydoit (NZ) (Tarzino), who has recently joined Maher’s barn following a pleasing three-year-old season in New Zealand for former trainers Shaun and Emma Clotworthy, which netted four victories from six starts, including the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m). “He is an interesting horse,” Maher said. “He is a big, traditional looking stayer but he has got quite a bit of toe. He trialled the other day at Warwick Farm and he is going to have another one. “I think he is going to kick-off in the 1400m Group Three and he will have a run over the mile. The Epsom (Gr.1, 1600m) might be a nice race for him, and we can work out what path we take, whether he stretches out or stays at those shorter trips. “He is a very exciting horse. Shaun (Clotworthy) and the team did a super job with him in New Zealand to keep him up for as long as they did in his first racing preparation.”  View the full article
    • A return to racing on Awapuni’s grass track is inching ever closer, and it passed its first test for that return following a successful set of trials on the surface on Tuesday. 30 horses line-up over five heats at the track and RACE’s General Manager of Racing Brad Taylor received positive reports at the conclusion of the trial meeting. “The feedback was very positive from the riders,” he said. “As expected with the surface we have, there was a little bit of the sand kicking back, but all-in-all it was very positive today.” Awapuni’s grass track was initially out of commission for 19 months as it underwent an extensive renovation, and it was set to commence racing on ANZAC Day, however, that meeting was abandoned following a slip in the opening race. The track has subsequently undergone further remedial work, and the club has called upon the expertise of Flemington track manager Liam O’Keefe to assist in that process. “We have had Liam O’Keefe, the track manager at Flemington, who has been a big part of the project over the past eight months,” Taylor said. “We have what they would call core and swept the tracks. We have put another sand carpet on top and there has been a lot of verti-draining and a bit more coring. “We had to reseed some of the track because there were a couple of bare patches, which is expected with the works we did. We are now just waiting for the grass to grow.” As part of their return to racing protocol, RACE is set to have one final set of trials on the surface, which will determine whether they can proceed with the planned return to racing on September 6. “It has been a long, slow process and it is just nice to tick that next step off,” Taylor said. “It is tracking in the right direction. At this time of year, the grass growth is minimal and that will only improve as we get into the next month, and further. “We have had just over 100 horses gallop on the course proper over the last four weeks. We had 30 horses trial this morning and then we will have a bigger set of trials of roughly 80-90 horses in a fortnight. We will get that tick of approval and then we will be ready for September 6.” It has been a frustrating process for the club, local trainers, owners and punters, and Taylor is hoping they will be rewarded for their patience in the coming weeks. “A credit to the whole, team, especially the track team, they have put in a lot of hard work to that surface and to see it coming to fruition now is pleasing and exciting for everyone,” he said. “The local trainers have been extremely patient, having to float to every meeting and go elsewhere to trial and gallop. They have done an incredible job and to see the results they have had over that time has been incredible. “It is only going to improve for them over the next wee while and having the course proper back for them on a weekly basis is a positive for everyone.” Mike Breslin was one of the local trainers to utilise the grass trials at Awapuni on Tuesday, and he is looking forward to racing’s return to the surface next month. “We have all got our fingers crossed to get racing back on the grass at Awapuni, it is essential for our businesses,” he said. “I think the track will be superb, but in my opinion, it is just going to have to be gently-gently until they get some decent spring (grass) growth.” View the full article
    • Emily Murphy brings you Winter Weigh In, your place for Thoroughbred racing news, reviews and insights throughout the colder months. We recap the Historic Grand National Steeple and Hurdle from Riccarton as well as looking forward to some spring features. Winter Weigh In, August 11 View the full article
    • A couple of New Zealand’s feature two-mile contests are in the offing for Palmerston North stayer Crouch (NZ) (Tarzino) this season, but track conditions will play a key part in those plans.  The six-year-old son of Tarzino had a pleasing summer preparation last term, headlined by his runner-up performance behind Wolfgang in the Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m) at Trentham in January.  The gelding made his first public appearance of the new season when trialling over 1000m at Awapuni’s newly-renovated grass track, finishing runner-up behind stablemate Showbastian Coe (NZ) (Showcasing).  Trainer Mike Breslin was pleased with his hit-out and believes he is in career-best condition heading into the spring.  “I think he is coming up the best of his life,” he said.  The Wellington Cup once again looms as an obvious target, but Breslin is weighing up between the Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) at Riccarton Park in November or the Gr.3 Waikato Cup (2400m) at Te Rapa a month later as his other major test.  “Ultimately, another go at the Wellington Cup is definitely on the cards,” he said.   “I’ll probably see how he goes in his first couple of runs back and keep an eye on the weather down south because he doesn’t like it really hard.   “He will be an outside New Zealand Cup candidate if there is going to be a bit of cut in the track. He is not a horse I would back-up down there, he would go down just for the New Zealand Cup.  “There is lead-up racing here, otherwise I think a race like the Waikato Cup is an option for him over 2400m.”  Breslin, who also part-owns the gelding, has taken a patient approach with his charge, and he is now starting to reap the rewards.  “He is a bit of a slower-maturing type of horse, but he has always shown ability,” he said. “He has shown that he is up to our open handicappers, and I think he has come up better this time, and hopefully he can win a decent race.”  Breslin was pleased to be back trialling on Awapuni’s turf track on Tuesday after its first meeting back after 18 months of refurbishment was abandoned after a slip in the first race on ANZAC Day.  The track has undergone subsequent remedial work and passed its first test on Tuesday.  “We have all got our fingers crossed to get racing back on the grass at Awapuni, it is essential for our businesses,” Breslin said.  “I think the track will be superb, but in my opinion, it is just going to have to be gently-gently until they get some decent spring growth.”  While a trip south to Christchurch for New Zealand Cup Week is on the cards for Crouch, he could be joined on the float trip by stablemate Intention (NZ) (Bivouac).  The three-year-old daughter of Bivouac showed plenty of ability as a juvenile, winning the Gr.2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes (1100m) at just her second start before placing in the Listed Wellesley Stakes (1100m).  Her starting manners were a major obstacle last season, and Breslin is hoping he has gotten on top of those issues heading into her three-year-old term.  “She did a bit wrong at the start of her races, but she won a Group Two, and she was placed in another stakes race, and even in the Sires’ Produce (Gr.1, 1400m) I think she had the fastest last 400m that day (when fifth).  “Her slow starts have just been hindering her against the best two-year-olds, so she needs to overcome that.   “She has had two trials and we have been really happy with them. If she can just overcome those barrier woes at the start and then we will get a good line on if she is up to the best fillies this year, and if she is, we will hopefully get down to Riccarton for the 1000 Guineas.”  Intention will begin her path towards the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Taupo on Sunday where she will contest the Taupo Pak ‘N Save (1100m) first-up.  She will be joined on the float trip north by stablemate Call A Friend (NZ) (Akeed Mofeed), who will contest the MVS Equine (1800m).  “Call A Friend hasn’t had a lot of luck in her last couple of starts and is better than her form suggests,” Breslin said. “Both should hopefully be handy chances.” View the full article
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