Pukekohe Park will host four feature races as part of its biggest meeting of the year on Saturday, and Cambridge trainers Ben and Ryan Foote will have well-credentialled runners in three of them.
The father-son duo’s big black-type day kicks off with Vega For Luck in the Listed Counties Challenge Stakes (1100m), followed by Babylon Berlin in the Gr.3 Haunui Farm Counties Bowl (1100m) and The Odyssey in the Gr.3 TAB Counties Cup (2100m).
Babylon Berlin is a deserved headliner for the Footes’ Pukekohe team, boasting nine wins from a 30-start career and more than $665,000 in stakes. The daughter of All Too Hard has been a multiple Group One placegetter and has previously finished third in the Counties Bowl in 2021 and second last year.
Babylon Berlin has been through more than her share of issues in the 12 months since that last Counties Bowl placing, but the seven-year-old was back at her brilliant best with a dominant front-running win in the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m) at Te Rapa on November 9.
“That was good to see,” Ben Foote said. “She took a little while at the beginning of this preparation, but I think she’s coming up really well now. It’s nice to see her back in some of her good form again.
“She’s had a pretty good couple of weeks since that Te Rapa win. She had a stone bruise after the race, but got over that quickly. It’s a tidy field on Saturday with some smart horses, some of them she hasn’t faced before, so it’s going to be interesting. But I couldn’t be happier with how she’s doing leading into the race.”
The Counties Cup has been a long-range target for The Odyssey since his breakthrough campaign last summer, in which he won four times from seven starts including the inaugural $300,000 Remutaka Classic (2100m) at Trentham in January.
The Odyssey has had five starts this spring, headed by a win over 2100m at Ellerslie on October 19. His other four appearances have produced two thirds and two fourths.
“He’s always looked like a really nice horse for a race like the Counties Cup,” Foote said. “He’s been racing consistently well this time in and I’m super happy with the horse. I think he might take some beating.”
Vega For Luck is one of the most experienced runners in Saturday’s two-year-old feature, having won on debut at Tauranga on October 5 before running third at Ellerslie three weeks later. He won a trial at Waipa on Monday.
“He’s done a good job in those first two starts,” Foote said. “We planned to tip him out for a brief spell, but he made it pretty clear that he wanted to be back in work. He seems to just thrive on it.
“Experience is always an asset in these early two-year-old races, so we think he’ll be quite a good chance this weekend.
“It was a good trial the other day. We just sent him there to cruise around and have a bit of a day out, but he won his heat well and seemed to have plenty up his sleeve.”