Bazooka wins at Alexandra Park before big move south

[Wandering Eyes]

By Michael Guerin

Impressive Alexandra Park winner Bazooka is moving to a new home.

But that doesn’t mean he is leaving trainer Steven Reid because Reid is the one doing the moving.

Reid moves to Canterbury in nine days where he will set up training out of the Rakero Racing property used by Tom Bamford.

Reid moves south as his partner Bella Storer is from there and her father, well-known harness racing owner Reg Storer lives there.

So the couple will head to Canterbury with 10 horses, including Bazooka.
 
It is a big move but I am looking forward to the challenge,” says Reid.

“We are renting the house out up here so we can always come back if it doesn’t work out but we have some nice horses to take south, including some really nice two-year-olds.”

Bazooka could be Reid’s first southern runner from his new base in the $50,000 Sophomore Classic at Ashburton on Labour Day.

“The way he won tonight it could be an ideal race for him,” says Reid.

“Horses who have won over $100,000 or a Group 1 aren’t eligible so it means Chase A Dream and Cold Chisel won’t be there.

“The way this horse is improving he deserves his crack at it.

“I have always really liked him but he is really coming to it now.”

Bazooka was confidently driven by Matty White in the Lather Up @ Woodlands Tender Closes 1/11 Mobile Pace and held out the late run from Hawkeye Pierce in a super fast 2:38.9 for the 2200m, a 1:56.2 mile rate and while the three-year-old bar is set very high it wouldn’t surprise to see him end up in the NZ Derby.

Reid says he has only lost one horse because of the move and that is because the owners of Change Tact are based in the north and want to see their horse race.

“I totally understand that but everybody has been really good about the move.”

He is hoping for an even bigger win as he has Coastal Babe as favourite in the Victoria Oaks.

“Emma Stewart has been looking after her over there but she will be returning back to us at some stage,” says Reid.

“She went over because she wasn’t staked for anything over here.” 

Other highlights of the Alexandra Park programme include Skipper winning the main handicap pace, Matty A continuing his impressive strike rate in the feature trot while the night started with Yurok giving trainer Steve Green his first Alexandra Park winner in three years.

Later in the night the Stephen Doody-trained Sweet Olivia made it four wins in a row winning her trot, graduating from the Cambridge Tuesday circuit to The Park.

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