Patterson in hot holiday form

[Wandering Eyes]

Robbie Patterson’s stable has been firing on all cylinders since Boxing Day, including a four-win haul at Otaki on Thursday, and now the New Plymouth trainer has Saturday’s iconic Kumara Gold Nuggets meeting in his sights.

Patterson saddled winners at Otaki on Boxing Day, New Plymouth on December 27 and Greymouth on January 3, along with a valuable black-type placing by Mary Louise in the Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2400m) at Pukekohe on Boxing Day.

But he went to a new level at Otaki on Thursday with four wins and two placings on a seven-race card. Shameless Boy, Catherinenz, The Mistress and Smug One all scored impressive wins, while Stout picked up a second placing and Manzappeal finished third.

“It was a really good day,” Patterson said. “We thought we were heading into that meeting with a pretty strong team of horses, and everything worked out and fell into place.

“We actually thought we’d win the first race on the card with Stout. He’s a three-year-old we’ve got a pretty good opinion of and potentially a good horse in the making. We had to settle for second there, but the day went pretty much perfectly from that point on.

“Shameless Boy and Smug One are a couple of nice three-year-olds who won very well on debut. Shameless Boy is big, strong and powerful, and Smug One is one that I reckon will get up over ground later on.

“The Mistress has won two from four now, and I thought it was a good effort on Thursday to go from an 1800m maiden win to win a 1600m Rating 65. I know it was only a Thursday meeting, but I thought that performance had a lot of merit.”

Patterson is in no rush to make big plans with his Otaki winning quartet, although The Mistress is eligible for the inaugural $350,000 Remutaka Classic (2100m) at Trentham on January 20.

“The Mistress could potentially go to that new race at Wellington, but we’ve been patient with all of these horses so far and we’ll probably keep stick to that approach while it’s working,” Patterson said. “We’ll just slowly take them through the grades.”

The purple patch over the holiday period has taken Patterson to 25 wins for the 2023-24 season – already halfway to his career-best total of 50, which he set last season.

“My goal was to get 50 again and to reach a million in prizemoney for the first time ,” he said. “We’re already at 25 wins and $990,000, so it’s been a great season so far. I’d be rapt if we could get up to 50 wins again.”

Patterson’s next chance to add to those totals is at Kumara on Saturday, where Regal Dice will take on the $40,000 Vernon & Vazey Truck Parts Kumara Gold Nuggets (1810m).

“She was a good second at Greymouth last start and has come through that run really well,” Patterson said. “This is a bit of a throw at the stumps, stepping up in trip. I’m currently in Greymouth and it’s raining, so I think the track is going to be quite heavy and testing.

“We’ve got Times Up on the ballot for the Nuggets as well, and he’ll go around if he gets a run there. Otherwise he’s in the Rating 65. Snipers Dream is in that same Rating 65 race and could be a really good chance there. He’s probably not the strongest-willed horse around, but if he shows up on his game, he’ll be hard to beat.

“Our other runner is the maiden O’Ceirins Dream. Her owner Wayne Keenan is originally from Hokitika, so it would be fantastic to get a win down here with this mare. She’s probably the best shot out of all of our team too – she looks close to a maiden win, and she can race up on the speed.” 

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