Evergreen eight-year-old Harlech will be back on even terms with his counterparts in a bid to go one better in this year’s Gr.3 Coca Cola Canterbury Gold Cup (2000m) at Riccarton Park.
A multiple Group One performer through his career, Harlech has found his form of old in recent seasons residing in Christchurch, winning last year’s Easter Cup (1600m) and the Listed Hazlett Stakes (1400m) at Wingatui in February.
He came within a half-neck of adding the Canterbury Gold Cup to the mantelpiece in last year’s attempt, and after carrying topweight throughout his current campaign, trainer Pam Gerard is looking forward to the level playing field presented in Saturday’s weight-for-age feature.
“He’s had some horrendous weights, but unfortunately there’s just not a lot of high-rated horses down there this year,” she said. “Last year we got away with it, there were some with quite high ratings, but he’s had to carry the weight, and I guess he deserves it.
“It’s a bit weird that we ran him in an Open 1200 last week, but it was the only race we could run him in. It’s also really tough to get grass gallops down there at Riccarton, you never know when you’re going to get one, so we had to make use of doing it through a race.
“He was pretty cheeky in that race and he’s been super with the weight on his back.”
While Gerard oversees her team in Matamata, she has received positive reports from Harlech’s strapper Richie Fallon.
“Richie is down there with him and he was really happy with his work yesterday morning,” he said.
“Back to weight-for-age he comes right into it, my only concern is the rain that has been around but hopefully it will clear up and they’ll get no more before Saturday.”
There is only a week between the Canterbury Gold Cup and Easter Cup this year, but Gerard is still likely to back-up her gelding before he heads back to the North Island for a spell.
“He’s likely to back up, but once again he’ll cop the weight, so we’ll claim off him again,” she said.
“That’ll pretty much be the end of his season, we’ll probably bring him back up here and see what the tracks are doing, if we get a nice track around here you might see him pop up for one more.
“It’s getting into winter now and it’s no secret that he’s not a fan of wet tracks.”
While he may be eight, Gerard believes there is still plenty of life left in the son of Darci Brahma and hopes to have him back in her care next term.
“We were talking about that this morning and it’s bizarre, it’s almost like he’s back to how he was as a three-year-old,” she said.
“Although we’ve had a bit of bad luck and a couple of runs that didn’t go to plan, he’s had a great season and he’s loving his work, he really wants to be there.
“I guess it’s a discussion we’ll have with the owners at the end of the season, but he’s very competitive down there and if not up here, so I’ll certainly be suggesting that he goes again.”
Gerard will also have representatives in the Awapuni (Friday) and Te Rapa (Saturday) meetings this week, headlined by Fall For Cindy contesting the Listed Manawatu ITM ANZAC Mile (1600m) at the former.
A Group Three winner over 1400m in Australia, Fall For Cindy returned to her homeland earlier this season and recorded fifth placings in the Listed Lisa Chittick Champagne Stakes (1400m) and Gr.3 Cuddle Stakes (1600m).
Gerard was hopeful of a bold showing last start when she contested the Gr.3 Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes (2050m) at Wanganui, but nothing went to plan in a slowly run event.
“I was a little bit miffed at Wanganui to be honest, we thought she was a really good chance and to be fair, it was probably the most ridiculously run race I’ve ever seen,” she said.
“They honestly just jumped out and walked and we’d decided we want to run her back for her first time over ground. It just didn’t suit her, but I also feel horses either handle Wanganui or they don’t and she got a little bit stuck in the mud that day.
“She had good form on wet tracks, but whether it was the way the race was run, or the sticky track, I’m not sure.
“I’ve decided her best runs are at a mile, we were aiming for 2000m but maybe this is the better option for her at this stage.”
Further north at Te Rapa, stakes winner Pericles will continue to build into his new campaign in the Hutton Contracting 1400, while Chaplin kicks off his career in the Cambridge Raceway 2YO (1200m).
“Pericles was super last start and he’s just had a little hiccup through this prep, nothing major but enough to miss a couple of nice races,” Gerard said.
From the first crop by King Of Comedy, Chaplin has made a good impression on his trainer, but his early gate speed shown at the trials may play to his disadvantage on debut.
“I love him, I think he’s a really nice horse in the making,” Gerard said.
“He’s obviously a little bit weak at the moment and could probably go to the paddock, but I like to get a run into them before we tip them out. He’s a big long-striding horse that lacks a bit of strength, but he does everything right. “He’s that fast out of the gates that he leaves them for dead, but hopefully the race-day pace will mean he might be able to get behind something and learn to relax a little bit.”