Saturday’s Manawatu Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association 3YO (1350m) is likely to be the final start of the season for Wingman, who is the only horse to have beaten Group 1 star Leica Lucy.
The Roydon Bergerson-trained Wingman showed bright promise in the spring with two wins from his first three starts.
That included a 1400m three-year-old race at Trentham in early December, where he edged out Leica Lucy by a head.
That filly then went on to win five Group races in a row, culminating in last month’s Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m).
Wingman was subsequently unplaced in the Group 2 Levin Classic (1400m) and Group 2 Wellington Guineas (1400m), which bookended a runner-up effort behind Ballon d’Or at Trentham.
“The Wellington Guineas was a bit of a hard watch,” Bergerson said.
“Nothing really went right for him there. The jockey got off and apologised afterwards. That’s the way it goes in racing sometimes.
“I’ve been very happy with the horse since then. We were thinking about taking him up to Auckland for the three-year-old race there on Saturday, which would have been a chance to see how he goes at the mile. But the Wanganui race doesn’t look quite as strong, so we’ll stay closer to home and stick to the 1350m. As long as there’s not too much rain around, he should be a good chance.”
The Wanganui track was rated a Soft5 on Friday morning, with morning rain expected to ease to showers in the afternoon.
Regardless of Saturday’s result, this is likely to be the final three-year-old appearance for Wingman, who has earned $65,575 for owner-breeder Gerry Harvey in his six-start career to date.
“He’ll probably head to the paddock after this,” Bergerson said.
“We think a fair bit of the horse. We’ll give him a decent break now and then start thinking about the spring.”
Wingman headlines a three-pronged contingent for Bergerson at Wanganui on Saturday.
The Wanganui Insurance Brokers Maiden (1600m) features the well-bred Our Giulia, who is by Savabeel out of Bergerson’s dual Group 3 Winter Cup (1600m) winner Karla Bruni.
Our Giulia was a last-start second placegetter at Waverley on March 19, beaten by a nose by Rainbow Delight.
“That was a really good run and I thought she’d got up on the line,” Bergerson said.
“A bit of sting out of the track never worried her mother, so this mare should be okay too if there’s a bit more rain.
“Karla Bruni was a maiden winner at Wanganui herself (in May of 2011), so it would be nice to see her daughter follow in her footsteps.”
Vee Vee will step back down in distance for Saturday’s Happy Birthday Big Don Could Surprise (1600m).
“He just over-raced in that last-start run over 2040m,” Bergerson said.
“Jimmy Chung rode him and he couldn’t really get him to settle. Going back down to the mile and with a senior rider aboard (Craig Grylls), hopefully the horse will relax a bit better this time. We’ll try stepping back up to 2000m again after this.”
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