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Sophie Doyle Back in the Saddle
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The Lowdown: Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas
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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Michael and Matthew Pitman’s Ocean Light will return to racing on Wednesday at Timaru. Photo: Race Images South Riccarton trainers Michael and Matthew Pitman will head to Phar Lap Raceway with a strong team on Wednesday, including a trio who have some feature New Zealand Cup Week targets on the line. Ocean Light holds a nomination for the Group 3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) and will take his first step towards the two-mile feature in the Hospitality NZ – SC Branch 1600. The five-year-old gelding will be fresh-up after a six-week break and his trainers are hoping he can continue his good run of form, having won three and placed in three of his last six starts. Ocean Light is paying $8 with betting sites to win at Phar Lap Raceway on Wednesday, with the favourite being Brett Murray’s Epee Beel at $3.60. “We were going to race him a couple of weeks ago but decided not to run him on a real heavy track first-up,” Michael Pitman said. More: How to bet on NZ racing. “The track should be really nice at Timaru, it should come back to a (Good)4 or (Soft)5. We are really happy with him, he is coming up well. “His main aim is Cup Week. He is nominated for the New Zealand Cup, but whether he gets to that race or the Metropolitan (Listed, 2600m), we will just see how he goes in his next two to three starts.” He will be joined in his race by stablemate Epee Beel, who is on a path towards the Group 3 Join TAB Racing Club Mile (1600m) on the middle day of New Zealand Cup Week. “She got mucked up when they dropped the last two or three races at Ashburton (in July) and we pressed onto the Winter Cup (Gr.3, 1600m) and we probably shouldn’t have,” Pitman said. “Her last run (fifth over 1580m at Riccarton) was really good. “This looks a nice race for her. She has got a bit of weight (59kg) to carry, but she has got it because she has won a couple of stakes races. “At this stage she is heading to the mile (TAB Racing Club Mile). She will be better suited to that than the 1400m that’s for sure.” Stablemate Star Ballot will also contest the mile on Wednesday, with the hope of also contesting the New Zealand Cup in November. “He is a firm tracker,” Pitman said. “I think he went something like 15 starts without striking a firm track last prep, it’s very hard to find a firm track for him these days. Let’s hope we have a dry summer.” The father-and-son team will head to Timaru with half-a-dozen other runners and they are particularly upbeat about the chances of stable newcomer Enchanted Delight in the Loveracing.nz 1200. The four-year-old Ferrando mare previously had two starts for former trainers Graeme and Debbie Rogerson, and she made her way south on the recommendation of breeder Graeme Rogerson, who has retained a share in the mare. “We have got an interesting maiden that is having her first start for us called Enchanted Delight,” Pitman said. “Graeme Rogerson has stayed in for a share. He recommended her to me and we have had plenty of horses off Rogie over the years. “She is a nice mare, but whether 1200m might be a bit sharp for her or not. We haven’t trialled her, but her work has been good. Brett Murray rides her and we think she is a chance.” Looking ahead to the weekend, the stable will have strong representation at their home meeting, including Proserve in the Waimakariri Businesses North Canterbury Cup (2000m). “We have got a super team in on Saturday,” Pitman said. “Proserve is in the 2000m. He went well the other day and just got beaten. I thought he was going to win it at the top of the straight but he found one better. “He holds a New Zealand Cup nomination and we might test him over 3000m in that Jericho Cup race.” Pitman is also upbeat about the chances of stakes winner Mystic Park and Group 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) hopeful Student Of War, who will contest the three-year-old 1400m event. “Mystic Park went huge the other day (when fourth over 1200m),” Pitman said. “He was left in front, no fault of Sam Weatherley’s, but he still fought on really well and he has improved since then. “We have got to make a decision in the next couple of starts whether we go to the TAB Mile, which I am preferring to at the moment, or freshen him up for the Stewards (Listed, 1200m, which he won last year). “We bought Student of War out of the Inglis Sale in Sydney after he had a couple of trials. He is a three-year-old by So You Think and he is nominated for the Guineas. He is a lovely horse.” View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
For the second time in three years top class broodmare Carlas Pixel is on the market. By Courage Under Fire out of Pixie Perfect, the now 11-year-old mare is up for sale on gavelhouse.com. The auction closes tomorrow with current bidding at $30,000. As a racing proposition the royally-bred Carlas Pixel won 19 races and nearly $500,000 in stakes, with a lifetime best of 1:49.5. Her first foal sold for $270,000. She is currently in foal to Captaintreacherous. In 2023 she was offered up on gavelhouse.com and bought by John Curtin on behalf of clients for a record $300,000. Now she is being sold again on the same platform. She is being offered for sale by Ola Yoder of Kountry Lane Standardbreds in North America who is dispersing all of his horses in Australia. It is important to note that Carlas Pixel is currently based in Victoria. To see more click here To see a Harnesslink story on Carlas Pixel click here View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
By Adam Hamilton Leap To Fame will launch his campaign aimed at the $1m IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup with an Albion Park trial on Thursday. In an exciting twist, trainer-driver Grant Dixon is seriously considering heading across the Tasman earlier than expected. “There’s a good chance we’ll fly to NZ straight out of Melbourne, rather than go back home and then get a flight to Auckland from Sydney,” Dixon said. “If we can go straight from Melbourne, it would make sense and save us a lot of other travel.” Leap To Fame, who hasn’t raced since winning his second Inter Dominion crown on July 19, will be in Melbourne for the $250,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup on October 18. A flight to NZ soon after that would also open the door for Leap To Fame to have a lead-up race in NZ ahead of the Cup on November 11. “We’ll worry about that when we lock in his flights,” Dixon said. “But, at the very least, he’s be there early enough for the Cup Trial (at Addington).” And the news gets better. Dixon said there was also a growing chance Leap To Fame could tackle the Group 1 NZ Free-For-All on Show Day (November 14) as well as the Cup. “We’ll take Fate Awaits across for the slot race (Velocity) on the Friday, so if Leap To Fame came through the Cup run well, he could do the free-for-all, too,” he said. “It’s something we’ll decide at the time, but one of his great strengths is how well he comes through his races and backs up.” More immediately, Dixon is trying to break his Victoria Cup hoodoo with Leap To Fame. The six-year-old was beaten into a close third spot as a hot favourite by Act Now and Catch A Wave in 2023. Last year he was a hot favourite again, but scratched just days before the race with a throat infection. “We’re really happy with him,” he said. “He’ll have the trial this week and we’ll probably just have time for the one run here before we head down (to Melbourne),” Dixon said. Fate Awaits, already a three-time Group 1 winner, will accompany Leap To Fame to Melbourne. “It just makes sense because he can run in the Victoria Derby and travel with ‘Larry’ to NZ,” Dixon said. Leap To Fame is a $1.60 favourite on the TAB Futures market to win the country’s biggest race, ahead of half brother and two-time champion Swayzee at $5. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Multile group one winner Crocetti has done all that was asked in his trial return on Tuesday morning. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Group One-winning sprinter Crocetti made his first public appearance of the season when winning his 1100m trial at Te Rapa on Tuesday. The Danny Walker and Arron Tata-trained gelding jumped away well to sit outside leader Boss ‘N’ Highheels. He found the lead comfortably under his own steam when entering the straight and ran out an effortless two-length victor over Lachie. Walker was pleased with what he saw ahead of his spring preparation. “He had a nice gallop,” he said. “He is looking good, he is good in the coat, and he has trialled well, so we can’t be any happier than that.” The five-year-old son of Zacinto has been back in work for the last couple of months following an Australian hit-and-run mission in April where he finished last in the AUD$5 million Quokka at (1200m) Ascot. Walker said he took no ill-effects from the trip and he is looking forward to the season ahead with his stable star, which will likely kick-off next month. “He will probably go to Rotorua on the 12th of October for the Sweynesse Stakes,” he said. “We will play it by ear and see how he comes through Rotorua and make a plan after that. There’s not a lot around really until Christmas time.” Bred and raced by Daniel Nakhle, Crocetti has won nine and placed in three of his 15 starts to date, including victories in the Group 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) and Group 1 Railway (1200m), and has accrued more than $1.4 million in prizemoney. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The Robert Wellwood and Roger James-trained gallaper Lydiard Park is ready to break his maiden status. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) Regally bred colt Lydiard Park will have conditions more in his favour on Wednesday to add performance to his pedigree. The son of Wootton Bassett will make his second appearance when he steps out in the TCL Earthworks Maiden (1500m) on the synthetic track at Cambridge. Trained by Roger James and Robert Wellwood, the three-year-old finished fifth on debut earlier this month at Ruakaka where he raced greenly and was unsuited by the rain-affected going. Lydiard Park is the $3.30 favourite with horse racing betting sites to win the 1500m maiden, with Trouvaille, Altiplano and Cheerful Smile on next line at $6.50. “We chanced our arm going there off the one soft trial and it didn’t all go his way, we thought it was a pass mark and certainly hoping to see a bit more on Wednesday,” Wellwood said. Lydiard Park was a $200,000 purchase at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale where he was offered through Woburn Farm’s draft. He is out of the Northern Meteor mare Ciarlet, a sister to multiple Group One winner and influential sire Zoustar. “He’s a very nice colt and a horse that needs a good track. We had options for him next week but the way the weather is we’ll go to the synthetic where we know we’ll get a good surface,” Wellwood said. “Hopefully, that gets him back on track to look at some nice three-year-old races, but he has to step up and we’re looking forward to it.” Stablemate Russian Blues will run in the Cambridge Equine Hospital Maiden (970m) off the back of consecutive fourths at her first two outings. “She had a long time off after she got injured at two, she had trialled up very well,” Wellwood said. “She’s a big, robust filly and the fitness is there now, and she should go a bold race.” Meanwhile, the stable is happy with the progress of Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) hope Mark Twain after two outings in Australia at distances well below his best. “We were happy with his run against Via Sistina and company (Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes, 1600m) and at Caulfield (Group 3 Naturalism Stakes, 2000m),” Wellwood said. “He raced a bit more dourly and like a horse that needs a mile and a-half, which he’ll get next start in The Bart Cummings (Group 3, 2500m) on October 4.” Closer to home this week, the stable has accepted with two runners at Otaki on Friday with Spellbound in the Vets On Riverbank 2YO (800m) and Popsicles in the Aquashield Roofing Maiden (1600m), but their involvement will depend on track conditions. “We’ll try and leave it to the last minute to make a call, but the weather doesn’t look good,” Wellwood said. “He (Spellbound) is a horse that has showed a lot at the trials at Ellerslie and Popsicles handles a wet track to some degree, she raced on a very heavy track at Matamata last start and certainly wanted it better than that.” View the full article
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