Saturday’s Listed City of Napier Sprint (1200m) at Trentham could bring a long-range plan to fruition for Tomodachi’s trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott.
After racing the talented daughter of Tarzino over distances up to 2180m as a three-year-old, the Wexford Stables team has kept her to 1200m this time in with Saturday’s $80,000 feature in mind.
“She’s a filly that’s always shown good levels of ability,” Scott said. “We tried her out over ground as a three-year-old, and she was probably just a bit immature at that stage.
“With a good break, she’s certainly come back a much stronger version this time in and is racing really well. This is an opportunity to hopefully pick up some valuable black type.
“We’ve specifically aimed her at this race. We gave her a wee freshen after her last run at Ellerslie in February. She’s been going very well at home.
“She’s got to take on the chute at Trentham for the first time on Saturday, but she’s very tractable and should navigate that without too much trouble. She sprints well and should give a good account of herself.”
Tomodachi has won five of her seven starts so far, including a perfect two-from-two record as a four-year-old this season.
She charged home from last for a Rating 75 sprint win at Tauranga first-up in January, then stepped up into open class for a repeat result at Ellerslie on February 22. The runner-up in that race was Glamour Tycoon, whose two starts since then have produced a win in the Listed Lightning Handicap (1200m) and a third in the Listed Flying Handicap (1400m).
“It’s been pleasing to see the form out of her Ellerslie win hold up nicely through Glamour Tycoon,” Scott said. “Our mare came off a slow speed that day and had to quicken from a fair way back, which isn’t easy to do around Ellerslie.
“Masa Hashizume will ride her again on Saturday, he gets on very well with her. Her performance here should give us a good line on whether we crack on in this campaign or put her aside. She should be the full package when she’s a five-year-old and we hope she’ll reach a good level of racing then.”
This weekend could be a significant one for O’Sullivan and Scott, who head into it with 64 wins to their names so far this season. The best result from all of their 13 seasons in partnership was last year’s 66.
“It would be a nice achievement to get past those 66 wins this season,” Scott said. “We’ve kept a few back for the softer ground in the autumn months, so hopefully we’ll be sending out a number of solid chances over the next six weeks or so.
“As well as Tomodachi, we’ve got a good team entered for the Te Rapa meeting on Sunday. Little Bit Of Love is going well and is appreciating the softer ground now that the autumn is here. He has a good record at Te Rapa.
“Our two-year-old Do You Just seems to have come back a lot better in the autumn, so we’re looking forward to seeing how he goes too.”
