Covid-19 Yarn

Looking at this again, the problem has really come about because most of the horses around the R70 grade are in Southland this weekend. Perhaps TLZ & Jumal should have gone there if they really wanted to start this weekend and leave the their Addington race as a up to 60 rating. 

Big hoopla over The Laz Effect and Jumal this week but the same thing happened last week at Auckland when a Miracle Mile placegetter and New Zealand Cup placegetter were in the same field as a rating 50.  It happens every week in the north - fields selected from top down and the middle grade gets cannibalised and the horses sold, rinse and repeat.  

Kingsclere Stables have an exciting week ahead of them, with promising mare She’s A Dealer shooting for black-type at Trentham on Sunday, while six days later the Cambridge barn will hold a strong hand in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m). Trainer Roger James had five New Zealand Derby wins to his name before Robert Wellwood joined him in partnership eight years ago, and a win in the race was high on his list. Wellwood achieved that goal two years ago with Orchestral, and the stable is favoured to repeat the feat with another filly in this year’s HKJC World Pool-sponsored Classic. Their exciting filly Autumn Glory currently heads the market following her runner-up performance in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) last Saturday behind Ohope Wins, with Yulong Investments electing to bypass the Derby in favour of Australian targets with the victor. The burgeoning thoroughbred giant has decided to remain in New Zealand with their other recent purchase, Autumn Glory, with the daughter of Ocean Park seeking to add an elite-level crown to her Group Two heroics in the Waikato Guineas (2000m) two starts back. Wellwood has been pleased with the way she has come through her Oaks run and said she ticks a lot of boxes heading into next week’s Derby. “We have now seen two things,” he said. “In the Waikato Guineas she beat the boys and secondly in the Oaks she showed she can definitely see a mile-and-a-half out. “She has ticked a few boxes that probably most haven’t in the race, and she has come through the Oaks in superb order.” Stablemate Road To Paris has also impressed, having finished runner-up in his last two outings, including in the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) last weekend, and TAB bookmakers have installed him a $4.20 equal second favourite for the Derby alongside Avondale Guineas winner That’s Gold. While he has shown plenty of talent on the track, Wellwood said the son of Circus Maximus still has plenty to learn. “Road To Paris ran second in the Avondale Guineas doing things completely wrong,” he said. “He is a very high-class horse, we have always thought a lot of the horse, but he has really got to learn to do things the right way around to be winning it.” Ariadne will round out the stable’s Derby representation, with her handlers electing to back her up in the Derby following her pleasing fourth placed result in the Oaks. “She is a horse we now know goes the mile-and-a-half,” Wellwood said. “She had a bit of interference at the top of the straight in the Oaks, had she not had that perhaps she would have run a place. I would love to see an uninterrupted run for her. She certainly wouldn’t be out of it.” The stable is also looking forward to contesting the Gr.3 Haunui Farm King’s Plate (1200m) with Sweynesday. The five-year-old gelding has been a model of consistency, winning five and placing in four of his nine starts to date, including running third in last month’s Gr.1 Railway (1200m), his first tilt at stakes level. “Masa (Hashizume, jockey) rode him in a bit of work (on Thursday morning) and it was probably as good as I have seen him work,” Wellwood said. “He is in terrific order and I am very happy with him.” While looking forward to Champions Day, the stable’s immediate attention is racing this weekend, with She’s A Dealer seeking to breakthrough for an elusive stakes win in the Gr.3 Rydges Wellington Cuddle Stakes (1600m) at Trentham on Sunday. The daughter of Ace High has finished fourth in the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) and Gr.3 Aotearoa Classic (1600m) in her last two starts, and Wellwood is confident she will be able to attain black-type against her own sex this weekend. “We are really happy with her,” he said. “We were keen to see her go 2000m, but the Kaimai Stakes (Listed) was run on a very wet track, so we are back against mares only here. “A big mile at Wellington I think will suit and it would be great to see her get through to win her first black-type race.” View the full article

Gary and Mary West's Sticker Shock (Uncle Mo–Smokey's Love, by Forestry) made it two-for-two going a route of ground when winning at Oaklawn Thursday afternoon. Allowed to settle in a two-wide third as Copper Wind (Gun Runner) led the way through a :23.49 quarter, the 3-2 favorite, who was getting-first-time Lasix here, took closer order as the pacesetter kept up the tempo through a half-mile in :47.62. Starting to put the pressure on the leader as the round the far turn, the West homebred held a narrow advantage straightening for home, and despite the best intention of 5-2 chance Scot's Law (Tiz the Law) to her outside, the Brad Cox trainee held tough to score by a length. Spitfire (McKinzie) was third. The winner is a half to Love Tap (Aus) (Tapit), GSW-Aus, $414,859; and to Fighting Mad (New Year's Day), GISW, $472,008. Smokey Love most recently produced a colt by Tapit in 2025. Third as the favorite in her career debut going seven panels at Keeneland in October, Sticker Shock appreciated the added yardage when going wire-to-wire in an 8 1/2-furlong test at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29. 8th-Oaklawn, $125,000, Alw (NW1$X)/Opt. Clm ($150,000), 2-26, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:44.24, ft, 1 length. STICKER SHOCK (f, 3, Uncle Mo–Smokey's Love, by Forestry) Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-1, $154,613. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. O-Gary and Mary West; B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc. (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. The post Uncle Mo’s Sticker Shock Collects Second Straight with Oaklawn Score appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Some of this latest discussion may have been prompted by The Laz Effect & Jumal racing horses as low as 52.  It’s certainly not ideal but it’s not the fault of the system, it’s the fault of too few horses in their grade.  No system can overcome that problem.  The choice is to tighten the rating range for that race but then you deny TLZ & Jumal a start.  The only solution I can come up with is we get some clever engineering person to develop a mobile start vehicle where you can handicap horses off a mark.