Wexford Stables are bullish about landing a couple of knockout blows at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.
Trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott have strong hands in the three-year-old features on Thursday with fillies Sethito and Prosegur to go head-to-head in the Gr.2 Hallmark Stud Eight Carat Classic (1600m).
The Matamata operation is equally confident Checkmate and Texas Hold ’Em will do them proud in the Gr.2 Shaw’s Wires Ropes Auckland Guineas (1600m).
With the application of blinkers, Sethito thumped her maiden rivals at Taupo two runs back and the daughter of Super Seth then impressively stepped up to black type company to account for Prosegur in the Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m).
“Her last race gave us plenty of confidence that she will race very well again,” Scott said.
“It’s a step up to the mile and she ran out the seven furlongs strongly last time, she’s continued to work well and we’re pleased with her condition.
“All things being equal, we think she’ll go well again. She’s had three weeks between runs and we’ve just kept her ticking over, she’s a fit filly and we’re pleased with where she’s at.”
Like her barnmate, Prosegur has won two of her four starts and followed up an age group victory at Tauranga with a strong effort to finish runner-up in the Bonecrusher.
“She continues to improve and we thought her last run was a step up even though she ran second,” Scott said.
“We think she has gone the right way since and she’s gained a lot of confidence, which she lacked early on.
“She’s had that experience around Ellerslie, we don’t think the mile will be a problem and we’re expecting another very strong performance from her.
“There’s not much between them, a lot will come down to luck on the day. They are two fillies that are pretty evenly matched and it might come down to which one gets the best run.”
The Okaharau Station-bred and raced Checkmate was second on debut before he impressively broke his maiden at Te Aroha and then won the Listed Armacup 3YO Stakes (1500m) with a good degree of authority.
“He went home for a week post his last run and he’s had a nice chance to freshen up,” Scott said.
“He’s another who has been exposed to Ellerslie and he’s a lightly framed, athletic horse who doesn’t take a lot of work between runs.
“We have been very pleased with his training and he’s another one we expect to run very well, it’s another step up and we’ve got high hopes for him.
“He’s got a very good turn of foot and hopefully we’ll see that on Boxing Day.”
Texas Hold ‘Em is also a lightly raced three-year-old who impressed in his first look around the course when he won his maiden against older opposition two runs back.
“He is going well and will have the hood on for the first time,” Scott said.
“He took on a hearty Rating 65 race last time when it didn’t all go his way and he’s back to age group racing.
“He’s been around Ellerslie and he’s trained really well and taken it up another notch, which he has to, and not for a moment do we think he won’t put in another strong performance.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
