Awapuni Trials

[curious]

Seems trainers are taking a wait and see approach to the AWT trials at Awapuni tomorrow. 32 noms compared to 100+ that went around on the grass at Foxton a month ago and that with spring horses that might prefer the firmer footing cranking up.

Edited August 17, 2022 by curious

[nomates]

No 2yo heats and only 7 3yo's in 2 heats , yet they had 8 2yo's and 29 3yo's go around at the Levin J/O's , i think there is a message in there somewhere . 

[nomates]

Just looked at the open heats , 7 horses at Awapuni yet 33 went around at Levin . All those horses had the option of going to the A/W trials . I think there is a message in there somewhere .

[Huey]

Can't wait for the AWT racing at Awapuni - yee hah!

[nomates]

9 hours ago, Huey said:

Can't wait for the AWT racing at Awapuni - yee hah!

You need to see a specialist . A sick , sick man .

[Joe Bloggs]

Hope the catering is sufficient to placate the multitudes coming up from Petone for the event? I wonder if Saundry will make a guest appearance to 'cut the ribbon'.

[mikeynz]

2 hours ago, Joe Bloggs said:

Hope the catering is sufficient to placate the multitudes coming up from Petone for the event? I wonder if Saundry will make a guest appearance to 'cut the ribbon'.

I thought Saundry had gone back to Australia, or is going.

[nomates]

Just watched all the trials , biggest field was 5 runners so hard to get a real understanding of how hard that home bend is going to be but it certainly looked tight , seen a few running on the inside rein , will be interesting when they get 10/12 runners . Home bend very tight so can't see too many coming around 4/5 wide to challenge , going to be a real on pacers track .

I don't like any of them but thought visually this was the worst to watch , JMO

[curious]

I also had a look at them all. Generally thought it raced and acted well. As you say, a bit hard to tell more until you have full fields going around at racing speed and pressure. Not too concerned about the bend at this stage. Only one I noticed on one rein there was on the wrong leg. Think I'd be happy to race one on it once I've had a look at some full fields getting round there on a race day.

[Joe Bloggs]

3 hours ago, mikeynz said:

I thought Saundry had gone back to Australia, or is going.

He's probably hiding under a rock somewhere.

[nomates]

19 minutes ago, Joe Bloggs said:

He's probably hiding under a rock somewhere.

Hopefully it's Ayres rock .

[Huey]

51 minutes ago, curious said:

I also had a look at them all. Generally thought it raced and acted well. As you say, a bit hard to tell more until you have full fields going around at racing speed and pressure. Not too concerned about the bend at this stage. Only one I noticed on one rein there was on the wrong leg. Think I'd be happy to race one on it once I've had a look at some full fields getting round there on a race day.

I've just watched them and it looked better than I expected.

[nomates]

Cambridge A/W trials and races religiously run 2 1/2 to 3 seconds under evens , only 2 open heats just broke even . Ok it's the first time on it , but i would suggest they couldn't run the bend from the back straight at full tilt because it is just too tight , which always seemed the way it would be .

I would only ever run a horse there if it was a real on pacer , even Cambridge lends itself to them . 

A larger pool of results will obviously give a bigger picture .

[Huey]

3 minutes ago, nomates said:

Cambridge A/W trials and races religiously run 2 1/2 to 3 seconds under evens , only 2 open heats just broke even . Ok it's the first time on it , but i would suggest they couldn't run the bend from the back straight at full tilt because it is just too tight , which always seemed the way it would be .

I would only ever run a horse there if it was a real on pacer , even Cambridge lends itself to them . 

A larger pool of results will obviously give a bigger picture .

I'd has it a guess you'll be right, then 4 or 5 meetings in it'll be 5 horse fields.

[curious]

“We had positive feedback from everybody and the jockeys said it was nice to ride on. There was rain on the day and it obviously didn’t affect it so it was another positive step forward,” he said.

As has been the case at Cambridge and Riccarton, the synthetic surface isn’t to the liking of all horses.

“We have to embrace it and it’s not the answer to everything and it’s not going to suit every horse,” Didham said.

“I galloped one the other day and she didn’t handle it all and then went to the jump-outs on the grass on Tuesday and won. 

“We’ve got other horses that go really well on it and it’s a matter of identifying what’s handling it and what’s not.”

https://loveracing.nz/News/37469/SynthetictrackupandrunninginCD.aspx

[Joe Bloggs]

I think Didham is following the party line, be kind, Nomates is correct in his/her observations, the times were some 12-15 lengths behind both Cambridge and Riccarton, so either the jocks were shitting their pants and holding on for grim death, or, they realise you can't let them run at optimum speed around a corner like that.......having ridden on the old Bulls course and plenty of fast work at Canterbury SYD cinders training track back in the day I know full well what happens if you let them run up quick around tracks like these.....it's tempting fate, so unless your'e an owner with bloody deep pockets [cos the silent compliant trainer wont be paying] get ready for some really shocking vet bills......there, it's said.

[Huey]

3 hours ago, curious said:

“We had positive feedback from everybody and the jockeys said it was nice to ride on. There was rain on the day and it obviously didn’t affect it so it was another positive step forward,” he said.

As has been the case at Cambridge and Riccarton, the synthetic surface isn’t to the liking of all horses.

“We have to embrace it and it’s not the answer to everything and it’s not going to suit every horse,” Didham said.

“I galloped one the other day and she didn’t handle it all and then went to the jump-outs on the grass on Tuesday and won. 

“We’ve got other horses that go really well on it and it’s a matter of identifying what’s handling it and what’s not.”

https://loveracing.nz/News/37469/SynthetictrackupandrunninginCD.aspx

Do we have a large enough population of horses for a number to not be able to handle it? If not , I still don't get the purpose of it from a racing perspective.

[curious]

I take your point JB. They certainly were running a couple of seconds slower than you'd expect at Cambridge or Riccarton. Whether or not that is due to the specific nature of the Awapuni track or whether riders were taking a cautious approach I guess the jury is still out on that.

As to your query Huey, yes, I think there is a pool of horses that suit the AWTs just as there is a pool that suit firmer summer tracks and another that suits heavy winter tracks. Most of the latter however, are not capable of running the 1.10/1.22 times that the AWTs require. Much of the pool that suits the AWTs are probably summer horses, particularly older ones that usually spend this time of year in the paddock. It may take connections a while to recognise that these horses for the most part can pretty much race year round with the availability of the AWTs.

Edited August 18, 2022 by curious

[curious]

On 17/08/2022 at 6:51 PM, nomates said:

Just looked at the open heats , 7 horses at Awapuni yet 33 went around at Levin . All those horses had the option of going to the A/W trials . I think there is a message in there somewhere .

Wasn't at the Levin jumpouts but the track was listed as a Slow 8. Did they mean a Heavy 8?

[nomates]

2 hours ago, curious said:

Wasn't at the Levin jumpouts but the track was listed as a Slow 8. Did they mean a Heavy 8?

Didn't go myself either , but it is a backwater and still haven't got the new edicts around track conditions . Knowing how wet it has been in the region i would be surprised if the track was only slow .

[nomates]

3 hours ago, curious said:

I take your point JB. They certainly were running a couple of seconds slower than you'd expect at Cambridge or Riccarton. Whether or not that is due to the specific nature of the Awapuni track or whether riders were taking a cautious approach I guess the jury is still out on that.

As to your query Huey, yes, I think there is a pool of horses that suit the AWTs just as there is a pool that suit firmer summer tracks and another that suits heavy winter tracks. Most of the latter however, are not capable of running the 1.10/1.22 times that the AWTs require. Much of the pool that suits the AWTs are probably summer horses, particularly older ones that usually spend this time of year in the paddock. It may take connections a while to recognise that these horses for the most part can pretty much race year round with the availability of the AWTs.

From what i can see , numbers in the CD are historically low . The biggest stable would still be the Latta stable and it is not anywhere as big as it used to be . Everyone else is struggling for numbers or are retrenching for personnel reasons , most i have spoken to all say the same thing , struggling to find owners or can't get the track riders so can't have too many horses .

The Awapuni A/W was always going to be tight on the bends , we will see with a bigger pool of results to look at exactly how it is going to play . I'll stick to what i said at the start , it will be a greyhound track .

[Clay]

4 hours ago, nomates said:

Didn't go myself either , but it is a backwater and still haven't got the new edicts around track conditions . Knowing how wet it has been in the region i would be surprised if the track was only slow .

Might be a "backwater" but one of the best grass tracks in the CD.  Went 5 days with no rain and yes it was a slow 8. Shows what good maintenance does for a track.

Ask the jockeys for comments?

[nomates]

3 minutes ago, Clay said:

Might be a "backwater" but one of the best grass tracks in the CD.  Went 5 days with no rain and yes it was a slow 8. Shows what good maintenance does for a track.

Ask the jockeys for comments?

Tongue in cheek , i live in that backwater . And looking at the state of the CD tracks at present it would be the best in the CD , hence why trainers like coming to the jumpouts .