Hi Yo Sass Bomb was runner-up in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) two years ago, and trainer Kim Reid is plotting a path towards the spring feature at Hastings in October in a bid to go one better.
She will begin her path towards the final leg of the Spring Triple Crown at Wanganui on Saturday in the Take It Easy Tours Open 1200, and Reid is pleased with the way she is tracking into her first-up assignment.
“She is looking really good,” Reid said. “She is going well and she has been working really well. I am pretty happy with her.”
“She has had a couple of (unplaced) trials, and I haven’t read too much into them because I know she can trial like that.
“She is fit and well and it is just waiting to see whether she wants to fire this year or not, and she will let us know soon enough hopefully.”
The daughter of Complacent had a mixed season last term. She started with a bang when winning the Gr.3 Grangewilliam Stud Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) and Gr.3 Thompson Handicap (1600m) in October, but her preparation hit a snag when readying for the Gr.1 Mufhasa Classic (1600m) in December.
“She won those two races and then we were heading for the Mufhasa, and the week before she ended up with a nail in her foot,” Reid said. “We got her back for the Thorndon (Gr.2, 1600m), but we were pushing it a bit to get her back there.”
Following her unplaced run in the Thorndon, Hi Yo Sass Bomb finished third in the Listed Wairarapa Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) before rounding out her season with unplaced runs in the Gr.3 Cuddle Stakes (1600m) and Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m).
“I think mentally she just went off a bit because she didn’t get a break through the year, and we tried putting her on box rest with her foot for a bit, but she was super fit and ready to go and it just upset her a bit, so she never came back,” Reid said.
However, Reid said Hi Yo Sass Bomb has returned with renewed vigour and has shown positive signs in her work.
“She is definitely looking better and is comparable in her work,” Reid said. “She gave me a good feel in her gallop this week.
“She can be a bit laidback in her trials leading in, which last year she was he opposite, but I didn’t feel she was quite right. I guess we will just wait and see.”
Reid said Saturday’s run will help bring Hi Yo Sass Bomb on as she looks to press on to stakes targets next month.
“It is just a lead-in run,” she said. “Our plan, all going well, is heading to the Metric Mile (Gr.3, 1600m) and then the Livamol. But as we all know, plans can change and we are flexible to that.”
Reid said the welfare of her mare is top of mind, and if she shows any indication of not wanting to be a racehorse, she will retire her to the broodmare paddock.
“I am not going to run her around just for the sake of it,” she said. “If she tells me she is ready to finish up then I am open to that too, but I feel she has still got something left. She is well, and physically and mentally I can’t fault her.”
While Hi Yo Sass Bomb is in the twilight of her career, her half-brother Hi Yo Fox Rox is shaping to be her heir apparent, having won two of his four starts to date.
“He has been a bit of a surprise. He is looking quite impressive so far,” Reid said.
“We are going to start in the Interprovincial next week at New Plymouth. We are testing what he is capable of. I think he is going to be stronger over a bit more ground and on the wetter ground. I don’t think he has got the speed that Sass Bomb has got, and she can handle the better tracks. Maybe in the future he might.
“There wasn’t much around for him at this stage, so we thought being a local, we would head to the mile next week.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
