Who Knows stakes New Zealand Cup claim

[Wandering Eyes]

Who Knows (NZ) (Redwood) was runner-up in a time-honoured Riccarton feature at the beginning of the season, and she earned favouritism for another one with an emphatic victory in the Weir Tours Egmont Cup (2100m) at Hawera on Saturday.

The $60,000 open handicap was the fifth win from only a 16-start career for the Redwood mare, who has placed on another four occasions, including a second behind Chase (NZ) (Zed) in the Gr.3 128^th Winter Cup (1600m) at Riccarton on August 2.

Wanganui trainer Niall Quinn is eyeing a return to Christchurch for the Gr.3 162^nd New Zealand Cup (3200m) on November 15, for which the TAB now rates her a $9 market leader alongside I’m A Dirty Rascal (Galileo) and Titicaca (NZ) (Tarzino).

Saturday’s Egmont Cup success was a notable training performance by Quinn, with Who Knows having been away from the raceday scene since finishing fourth in the Heatstore Open Handicap (1800m) on the final day of the Grand National Carnival at Riccarton on August 9. She had made a solitary trials appearance in between times, finishing fourth over 1200m at Foxton on September 16. But the six-year-old’s quality shone through on Saturday.

Who Knows was given a perfect run by jockey Kate Hercock, who took up a position in fifth behind Tobias (NZ) (Complacent), Solidify (NZ) (Redwood), Wheelitin (NZ) (Ekraar) and Royal Flower (NZ) (Proisir).

The leading pair had a margin of at least two lengths on their nearest rival for the majority of the race, and they seemed to be travelling as well as anyone coming up to the home turn.

But Hercock never panicked. She angled Who Knows to the outside of the leading pair and drove her home over the top of them down the straight. Who Knows drew away in the closing stages to beat Tobias by two and a quarter lengths. Solidify was the same margin away in third.

“We’re really happy with that,” Quinn said. “I was hoping for a better track today. I would have been a bit more confident if it had been a Soft6 instead of a Heavy9. I thought it might be a bit testing for her, since it had been a while between runs. But we were quite happy with her work at home.

“There was a bit of speed on today. Kate got her in a good spot, and then she finished it off well. There’s still a bit of improvement left in her too.

“We’ll probably give her one more run between now and the New Zealand Cup. We won’t have to do too much with her between times. It’s a bit tricky to place her, there aren’t a lot of options in the Central Districts, but we’ll look to give her one more run towards the end of this month.”

Who Knows was bred by Harry Parslow and has now earned $153,735 for owners the Fast Horses Syndicate.

Who Knows is out of the Zabeel mare Bello Cappello (NZ), who is a daughter of the Gr.1 Kelt Capital Stakes (2040m) and Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) winner Cinder Bella (NZ).

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