The Lance Noble-trained About Time (NZ) (American Pharoah) will be rewarded for her consistent run of form with a tilt at stakes level for the first time in more than a year when she heads to Ellerslie on Saturday.
Bred and raced by Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay, About Time was victorious in last year’s Gr.2 Sir Patick Hogan Stakes (2050m) at Pukekohe on New Year’s Day before finishing unplaced in the Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies Classic (2000m) at Te Rapa a month later.
Noble has resisted the temptation to test her at stakes level this term and has been rewarded with three consecutive victories, including the Dunstan Horsefeeds Stayers’ Championship Final (2400m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.
With an eye towards the Gr.2 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup (3200m) at Ellerslie on Champions Day in a fortnight, Noble felt Saturday’s Gr.3 Eagle Technology Avondale Cup (2400m) was the perfect lead-in and is looking forward to seeing what his mare can do under 53kg.
“She has obviously won her last three, she likes Ellerslie, and I am looking forward to it,” he said.
“She had a bit of a break between the Dunstan Stayers’ Final and her last run, which has brought her on even more. She is looking well.
“She comes in well with her form being strong and dropping weight (to 53kg). It is a good recipe when they have carried weight and dropped it into the next one, although it is a class rise.
“All going well she will head to the Auckland Cup. At this time of year most of the horses have been in work for a long time and it has been a long, hot, dry summer. If you can keep them in good order, hopefully she has got a couple of good runs left in her.”
About Time is dominating the Avondale Cup market, currently sitting as a $3.30 favourite with TAB bookmakers, with Son of Sun the only other runner in single figures at $8. She also heads the Auckland Cup futures market, alongside Tajanis, at $4.50.
Meanwhile, stablemate Jaarffi (NZ) (Iffraaj) will tackle a quality line-up in the Gr.1 Sport Nation Otaki-Maori WFA Classic (1600m) on Saturday, and Noble is hoping she gets more luck at Ellerslie than she has in her last two starts at the Auckland track when runner-up in the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) on New Year’s Day and fifth in the Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m) three weeks later.
“She hasn’t had much luck in her last couple of starts,” Noble said. “She was three wide without cover in the Rich Hill Mile and worked and got to the front a little bit soon and got run down. I thought that was a great run.
“In her next start she drew wide and didn’t have a lot of luck in running in the Westbury and got shunted wider on the corner and still ran fifth.
“It is a step-up at weight-for-age against some pretty in form horses, but at her best, and if we can get the right run, I think she can be in the mix.”
A return to Ellerslie for a Group One assignment awaits Jaarffi if she performs well this weekend.
“If she runs up to expectations there is the possibility of the Breeders’ Stakes (Gr.1, 1600m) on Champions Day,” Noble said.
Rounding out Noble’s team on Saturday will be Dazzled (NZ) (Pierro) in the Horizon By SkyCity 1200.
“She had a little freshen-up after what looked on paper to be a bit of an average run for her when she ran sixth in the Royal Descent Stakes (at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day),” he said.
“There’s a lot of form that has come out of that race, so it might have been a better run than it looked.
“We did give her 10 days off and freshened her up and she has been working well. It is not a big field, she has got a great finish, so if she can produce that hopefully we will be in it.”
