Belardo Boy will make the final step towards his defence of the Group 3 Winter Cup (1600m) when he contests Saturday’s Listed Opunake Cup (1400m) at New Plymouth.
The versatile galloper thrives on heavy surfaces and has had an outstanding season with wins in the Winter Cup and Group 3 Metric Mile (1600m) through the early spring, before returning with a dominant performance in the Listed AGC Training Stakes (1600m) at Wanganui last month.
His trainer Lisa Latta then opted to head back to the trials on July 4 where he skipped away under little pressure over 1200m, setting him up to reunite with regular rider Joe Doyle in the Taranaki feature.
“I’m really happy with him, obviously he’s got a bit of weight to carry on Saturday compared to the others, but he’s trained on well,” Latta said.
“He loves the heavy tracks and 1400 is probably his pet distance.”
Fortunately for the son of Belardo, his 59kg top-weight is within reach of last year’s winner Justaskme (58kg) and an in-form Bradman (57.5kg), making a trip to Riccarton Park next month also more appealing for Latta.
“It definitely does, at this stage we have every intention of getting him down there,” she said.
“Winter racing can be pretty quiet and he’s a horse that is there performing in the big races around this time which is good.”
The Awapuni horsewoman will be well-represented by Old Town Road and Belle’s Echo in the race, with the former performing in his usual consistent fashion beaten less than a length at Hastings and Trentham of late.
“He was definitely sharper with the blinkers on that’s for sure (at Hastings). I’m really happy with him and he gets in well at the weights (54.5kg),” Latta said.
“He’s been a little while out of the winner’s circle but I think a lot of that has come down to track conditions being really sticky, he prefers the looser wetter ground so I hopeful we’ll get that on Saturday.”
A six-year-old by El Roca, Old Town Road is a multiple stakes performer, while his younger stablemate Belle’s Echo has been a model of consistency throughout her career, barring an uncharacteristic performance at Hastings.
“She choked herself down last start, but she’s had a vet clearance and trained on really well since then,” Latta said.
“We’ve taken her out of the Winter Cup because I’m wondering whether a mile on a heavy track is just is a bridge too far for her at the moment, so we’ve given her a bit of a freshen-up to come back to the 1400.”
A winner at her most recent effort, Lovehelen will be one of just three non-maideners contesting the 24/7 Security (1800m) for maiden-as-at gallopers with apprentice jockey Ace Lawson-Carroll on board.
“She’d been unlucky her previous two starts before that, so she deserved that win and she’s gone in the right direction since,” Latta said.
Meanwhile, Latta will have three runners at Hastings on Thursday, among these a six-time placegetter in Deadly Pony who will chase her breakthrough win in the Stephenson Transport Maiden (1600).
“She’s drawn wide (13) so she’ll need a bit of luck from there, but she does tend to get back a bit in running anyway,” Latta said.
“She enjoys the wet track so she’ll get her chance tomorrow.”
Verardino and Stanmore will each take their place in the Davmet Maiden (2100m) later on the card, both having recording top-three finishes in their most recent runs.
“Verardino had two runs on the synthetic and being by Belardo, we’ve decided to revert back to a grass track which you would think he would appreciate,” Latta said.
“Stanmore is going good honest races and knocking right on the door for his maiden.”
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