It’s Friday night and at Addington three places are up for grabs in the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup on Tuesday, November 12. The running of the Lamb and Hayward Canterbury Classic goes at 8.37pm with the top three automatically qualifying for the NZ Cup. Meanwhile at Auckland a former Breeders Crown winner will make his New Zealand debut.
Start key to Beach Ball’s chances in Canterbury Classic
By Michael Guerin
Ricky May has no doubts about the horsepower he will be sitting behind in the Lamb And Hayward Canterbury Classic at Addington tonight.
But for all the talent of last season’s NZ Cup placegetter Beach Ball, May knows tonight’s golden ticket race to this year’s IRT Trotting New Zealand could come down to manners.
The Classic brings together many of those ranked between five and 20 for the NZ Cup and might be the last realistic chance for some to get into the race, with the first three home tonight guaranteed a Cup berth.
Beach Ball, courtesy of a wonderful Cup week last season, finds himself almost certainly in the Cup again, having been ranked ninth in the first rankings and with a few of those immediately behind, particularly the Australians, unlikely to chase a start.
Yet for all his proven open class form he was rated a $15 chance by the TAB when the market opened and May says how quickly Beach Ball can begin may determine how right those odds are.
“I have driven him at three workouts this time in and last week he felt really good,” says May.
“I know Kevin [Chapman, trainer] has had a few little issues along the way but we all know he finished third in the Cup last year so he can obviously beat most of these this week with the right run.
“But the start will be crucial. As we have seen in most of the races this spring they have been won by the horses who settle handy.
“There are some fast beginners on that front line so where we settle will determine how much work we have to do and maybe his overall chances.”
Few in tonight’s race can match Beach Ball’s best, with plenty in tonight’s field still earning their open class stripes.
So that takes us back to the start and those standing start manners.
If the last two winners of this race, B D Joe (2022) or Republican Party (2023) could get handy then they might have the automatic respect to work their way to the front and possibly dominate.
But in a race with plenty of hard-running stayers and those NZ Cup spots up for grabs it wouldn’t surprise to see one or two drivers throw caution to the wind and the recent on-speed bias of the lead-up races be reversed.
The IRT New Zealand Cup winner may ultimately not be in tonight’s race but it has the potential to both a great betting race and incredibly good fun.
Earlier in the night there may be less winning chances in the $50,000 Aldebaran Eagle Trot for the juveniles but fillies Habibti Pat and Ya Right Darl both have some X-factor and the race should go some way to working out the southern juvenile trotter’s pecking order for now.
Big gun three-year-olds Vessem (9), We Walk By Faith (8), Hadron Collider (7) and Betterthancash (6) face wide draws in the Can Print Lazarus Stakes as the three-year-old season starts to warm up in a race with plenty of potential for pressure.
Aussie trotters to make NZ debut at Alexandra Park
By Michael Guerin
Trainer Michelle Wallis admits she and her new Australian trotters are still learning about each other.
But she is confident one of them can make a winning New Zealand debut at Alexandra Park tonight.
Wallis and husband Bernie Hackett have been sent a varied bunch of trotters from major Australian owner Pat Driscoll, most of them formerly trained by Anton Golino.
The Wallis/Hackett team have had to get to know their imports while they in turn have had to get used to right-handed Alexandra Park and their new training regimes.
“Some have settled in better than others and some are handling right handed better than others,” admits Wallis.
“But there are plenty of horses there in the right grade who can do a job.”
One of the most interesting is former Breeders Crown winner Val Thorens, who makes his New Zealand debut in Race 1, the Book at the Alex for Melbourne Cup Day Mobile Trot, on what is an all-sprint programme tonight.
“I know he won the Breeders Crown but that was as a two-year-old and he hasn’t won since so I would have preferred to see him in the maiden to one-win race later in the night,” says Wallis.
“It isn’t an easy starting point for him but obviously he has some ability.”
The stable has Break Free and Five O’Clock Gerry in that race but their better chances of success may lay later in the night.
They have American Muscle, Courmayeur and Queen Of Quebec in Race 3, the Lone Star Alexandra Park Mobile Trot, which looks a very strong race where the trotters could go 1:57 so luck in the running will be crucial.
“It is a tough race, Queen Of Quebec is still a work in progress while Courmayeur has a very wide draw so maybe American Muscle is our best chance in that.”
Their best hope comes in Race 9, the North Island Harness Awards Saturday 28 Sept Mobile Trot, which they will dominate the market with another Aussie newcomer Belle Neige and the improving Lil Whip.
“Belle Neige is a mare we really like,” says Wallis.
“She should have good gate speed and that might means she gets a better run than Lil Whip.
“So she might be our best chance of the night.”
Earlier in the night the Purdon/Phelan team should continue where they left off last Saturday with Duchess Megxit (R7, No.5) looking close to a good thing in her Nevele R Fillies Heat while they will dominate the market for the two-year-old trot, the IRT Sires’ Stakes 2YO Prelude.
They have both Higher Power (R4, No.3) and Meant To Be in that race and Meant To Be’s recovery after being checked into a break by his stablemate last start was enormous so if he trots all the way tonight he should atone.