Mark Walker is looking forward to kicking off Lara Antipova’s Australian campaign on Saturday, while he is on weather watch in New Zealand with a couple of stakes contenders.
An unbeaten two-year-old in New Zealand last season, which included victory in the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m), Lara Antipova has been given her chance to test her talent in Australia and has joined Te Akau’s Cranbourne barn.
Trainer Mark Walker has been pleased with the way she has been building into her spring preparation, but he holds concerns about her hefty impost of 59kg in her Australian debut at Caulfield on Saturday, the Gr.3 Quezette Stakes (1100m).
“She seems bright and her last jump out was good,” Walker said. “I thought her jump out at Caulfield was just okay, but she has come on with fitness.
“We are happy with her, it is just that she has to carry that Group One penalty, it is quite a bit of weight.
“It is a very good edition of the Quezette, it is a very strong field. All you can do is win like she has, but she has still got to go to another level over here, especially with that weight.”
Walker said they have plenty of options with the Fortuna Syndicate-raced filly this spring and he will let her first few performances dictate what races she targets later this spring.
“We will go through to the Thousand Guineas Prelude (Gr.2), which is 1400m, and then we will decide if we go down a Thousand Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m) path or whether we keep her to sprinting. That will be third-up, and we will know what to do then.”
Back in New Zealand, Walker and training partner Sam Bergerson are on weather watch this weekend with their three-year-old geldings Kinnaird and Honour Roll.
The pair are dual acceptors for Ruakaka on Saturday and Taupo on Sunday, with Saturday’s meeting having the lure of black-type in the Gr.3 Cambridge Stud Northland Breeders’ Stakes (1200m).
“If we can just know what the weather is going to do, that is the hardest thing,” Walker said. “We are just keeping an open mind depending on what the weather does.
“Kinnaird has been gelded and had a really nice break. His last trial at Te Rapa he was pretty average on the (Heavy10) track, so he needs reasonable ground. Honour Roll is the opposite, he handles bad ground really well, so it just depends what the weather throws up.”
If the pair head to Taupo on Sunday, they will be met in the Poverty Bay Turf Club (1100m) by Group Three performer Out Of The Blue.
“His trial at Te Rapa was good, it was nice to see him settle and relax,” Walker said. “He is not a big horse, but he is always competitive in what he does.”
Towering Vision also presents as an exciting prospect on Sunday for the Matamata barn, and Walker said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the stakes winner run a cheeky race in the Group One Stallions @ Rich Hill 1400 first-up.
“He might go well fresh. He will need more distance, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him sprint really well fresh,” Walker said. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
