Local trainer David Greene can’t wait to head to Te Rapa on Saturday where he will be chasing $1.125 million in prizemoney with a trio of runners.
“It is brilliant,” Greene said. “We have got the three runners running for $1.1 million, it is a really good indication of what has happened to the stakes in these good races over the last couple of years.”
His charge will be headed by last-start Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) winner First Five, who will be looking to rebuff the Australian raid of Lindsay Park duo Arkansaw Kid and defending champ Here To Shock in the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m).
Greene couldn’t have been any happier with the Almanzor gelding’s Trentham heroics last month and he has been thrilled with the way he has progressed.
“He recovered well from his trip away to Wellington and it has been business as usual for him ever since,” he said.
“He goes into Saturday back at his favourite distance and in the best form of his life, so it is very exciting.”
The Te Rapa horseman said drawing his ideal barrier of four will only aid his chances against a very strong line-up.
“You need every bit of help you can get in these races. I wouldn’t switch four, it is perfect for him,” Greene said.
“This race is one of the best races every year, plenty of our best horses have won it. It is obviously going to be a difficult task for any of them and I am really glad to have a horse we feel can be really competitive in it.”
Greene is also upbeat about the chances of Sweet Ice in the Gr.2 Legacy Lodge Waikato Guineas (2000m).
The three-year-old feature has been the key aim all season for the son of Frosted, who has placed in two of his last three starts, including the Listed Trevor & Corallie Eagle Memorial 3YO (1500m).
He finished sixth in the Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) last month and Greene expects a better showing over more ground this weekend.
“I thought it was a good run (in the Karaka Millions 3YO),” Greene said. “He had to work to hold his spot racing in that field of the crème de la crème of our milers. We think he will get a middle-distance trip and it is definitely a drop down in quality of field compared to the Karaka Millions.”
In complete contrast to First Five, Sweet Ice has drawn barrier 15 and Greene said he will need plenty of luck from that gate.
“The 2000m is a tricky starting point as well so it (draw) definitely doesn’t do us any favours,” Greene said. “We are just going to have to take our medicine, drop back and try to find cover and hope they go along at quick enough speed that we can get into it at some stage later on.”
Despite the draw, Greene believes Sweet Ice will be a strong chance on Saturday as he looks to progress to next month’s Gr.1 Trackside New Zealand Derby (2400m).
“It (Waikato Guineas) is a race we have been setting him for since the start of the season,” Greene said. “Apart from the barrier draw, we feel he is really well placed to give it a good shake.”
Completing Greene’s representation at the lucrative meeting will be four-year-old mare Bethany Dee in the $350,000 Sir Patrick Hogan Karapiro Classic (1600m).
“For a one-win horse like her to be running around in that race on Saturday for $350,000, with the lucky colours on as well, is great,” Greene said. “She is an even chance of running in the first three.”
Legends Day is one of the highlights on the Waikato racing calendar, and Greene said his team are chomping at the bit to be a part of the action.
“This day is such a good racing card for the racing purists. It is a day you really want to be on course for, there are good races all day,” Green said.
“The whole team is buzzing about Saturday and it has been a really slow week waiting. We just want to get into it as quick as we can.”
The meeting comes fresh of the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale where Greene secured two colts, and he is hoping positive results this weekend can assist in selling down the remaining shares.
“We have still got a couple of shares left in the ones that we bought up at the sales. Hopefully a good result on Saturday and we might fill them up,” Greene said.
“We bought a nice Almanzor colt from Wentwood Grange, trying to see if we can replicate First Five.
“We bought another colt in the Summer Sale off Curraghmore by Victor Ludorum.
“They are two nice colts that are having a bit of time out in the paddock before they are broken in. I am very happy with what we got.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
