Marton trainer Fraser Auret is set to have a busy weekend, with stakes contenders scattered around the country as well as his homebred sprinting superstar Ka Ying Rising taking on the world’s best once more at Sha Tin on Sunday.
The four-year-old son of Shamexpress will be shooting for his 12th straight win in Hong Kong for trainer David Hayes when he contests the Gr.1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) in the hands of leading Hong Kong hoop Zac Purton.
Ka Ying Rising has been a revelation in Hong Kong, winning 12 of his 14 starts, including the Gr.1 Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), Gr.1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) and Gr.1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m), earning nearly NZ$10.5 million in prizemoney, and was crowned Champion Griffin last season.
Auret bred Ka Ying Rising out of his ill-fated five-win mare Missy Moo and he has enjoyed watching his progress in Hong Kong after selling him to Lindsay Park off the back of an impressive jumpout victory in Levin.
While he would love to be trackside at Sha Tin this weekend, his schedule wouldn’t allow it, and instead he will be barracking for Ka Ying Rising from his living room in Rangitikei.
“We have been loving every minute of it,” he said. “This time of year for us, we are breaking in a lot of young ones and searching for the next Ka Ying Rising, so unfortunately we won’t be there.”
Auret will be seeking stakes glory of his own back in New Zealand on Saturday, with Khanshe flying the stable flag in the Gr.2 Travis Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa, while Piccolino is trekking south to Riccarton to line-up in the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Warstep Stakes (2000m).
Khanshe was also entered for the Listed Manawatu ITM ANZAC Mile (1600m) at Awapuni on Friday, but Auret has elected to test his in-form mare against her own sex further north a day later.
The four-year-old daughter of Mongolian Khan has been a consistent performer for Auret, winning three and placing in three of her 11 starts to date, including victory in the Listed Oaks Prelude (1800m) as a three-year-old and running third in the Listed Wairarapa Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) in February.
While Auret believes his mare is still 12 months away from reaching her peak, he is still hopeful of a bold showing from Khanshe from barrier three on Saturday.
“At this stage she will head to Te Rapa. We hedged our bets a bit with the different forecasts because it has been a wild week of weather everywhere,” Auret said.
“I think she will really relish the 2000m and the nice track up at Te Rapa. She has certainly gone the right way since Wanganui (fifth in the Gr.3 Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes, 2050m).
“She has only had 11 starts now, so it is more this time next season that she will be super competitive in these sort of races, but she has got a very tidy record for a very lightly-tried horse.”
Auret is also hopeful about the chances of stablemate Piccolino at Riccarton.
The daughter of Proisir won over a mile on debut at Otaki in January before finishing unplaced in her following three starts at stakes level, including running seventh last start in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham.
She has pleased her trainer with her progress since then, finishing fourth in her 1200m trial at Awapuni earlier this month, and he is looking forward to her South Island debut in the Warstep Stakes on Saturday, where she will jump from barrier 14.
“She has had a nice season, even her run in the Oaks had plenty of merit I thought, she wasn’t that far away from them and she has done really well since,” Auret said.
“I am happier to be out there (barrier 14) because they have had an awful lot of rain down there so I think it might be the place to be.”
Looking ahead to Sunday, Auret will head to Wanganui with two runners, and he is excited about the chances of both Massive Prince and Rabega in the Kevin Myers Stables 1200.
“If that is a reasonable track, they should both run pretty well,” Auret said. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
