Talented mare Adiktiv Passion (NZ) (Ghibellines) has fashioned a sharp record at Ascot Park, and on Saturday the Leda Beck-trained galloper will be chasing back-to-back victories in the White Robe Lodge Handicap (1400m)
A daughter of Ghibellines, Adiktiv Passion struck her favourite track conditions when dominating her rivals at Gore earlier this month, a performance not totally unexpected by her Winton-based trainer.
“She’d improved a lot since her last run, we changed her feed a bit as she’d had a few muscle problems and she had been working very well,” she said.
“She loved Gore and always has, so it was great, a race to suit.”
Having won or finished in the first four in all but one attempt at the course, Adiktiv Passion is a key hope in the Rating 75 contest, with an improvement on the current Soft track conditions only to benefit the mare.
“She probably wouldn’t mind a Soft track, but the firmer, the better for her,” Beck said.
Later on Southland Guineas day, Beck will have a pair of chances in the Baillie and Lewis Pharmacy Invercargill Gold Cup (2600m), a race she won just over a decade ago with Gargamel. A close relation to the Grand National Hurdles winner in Par Tee (NZ) (Verdi) will take her place in this year’s running, coming off a solid run for fifth in the Gore Cup (2000m).
“Her uncle won the Cup a few years ago so we’re hoping it stays in the breed and she can follow on,” Beck said.
“I don’t have a problem with the distance for her, looking at the way she finishes off her races. She’s probably better off in the weights this time as well.”
The mare will carry just 54kg under apprentice Ruvanesh Muniandy, while her stablemate Theoden (NZ) (Proisir) will appreciate a four-kilogram drop in weight from his last-start effort at the track in late January, finishing second to Stolen Magic.
“I was a little bit disappointed with that run, he sat outside a moderate speed and didn’t kick on quite as well as I thought he might’ve,” Beck said.
“But he did have to carry weight there and he’s always honest. I think he’ll see the trip no problem, he just travels along at one pace.”
The Invercargill Gold Cup will continue the $50,000 Summer Cups Bonus series in the south, after it kicked off in the Gore Cup earlier this month with the victory of In Vegas.