Grail Seeker’s season has painted a pretty picture so far for Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott, with her two starts in two Group Ones resulting in two wins.
The imposing daughter of Iffraaj lined up a $32 chance with horse racing bookmakers in the Group 1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) back in September, but she didn’t know that, schooling a hot field and doing the same as favourite four months later in the Group 1 Telegraph (1200m).
On Saturday, Grail Seeker will likely hold the same favouritism in the Group 1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa, coming off a breathtaking performance that took even her trainers a little bit by surprise.
“We hoped she would go and perform like that (in the Telegraph), and her performance was even stronger than we would’ve thought,” Scott said. “She was really strong.
“There were a lot of things that went her way that day, a good bit of give in the ground and a roomy straight helped her a lot. She probably exceeded our expectations that day with the way she won.”
Following their successful method throughout the season, O’Sullivan and Scott opted to bypass the Group 1 Railway (1200m) and present a fresh Grail Seeker in Saturday’s $500,000 feature.
“She had an exhibition gallop there last Friday around Ellerslie, but since the Telegraph, we’ve backed off her,” Scott said. “She’s maintained her racing weight all the way through, so we haven’t had to do a lot with her in between.
“She is quite a laidback mare, but from time to time, she can be pretty big and powerful and explosive. You’ve always got to be on your guard with her, but most of the time, she’s quite a gentle giant.
“We’ll ride her where she’s comfortable on Saturday, we won’t be pushing her out of her comfort zone and where she finds her rhythm. Hopefully she can quicken off that, we won’t be reinventing the wheel.”
The mare will be joined at Te Rapa by stablemate Waitak, last year’s Railway winner who recorded the fastest closing sectionals in the race a fortnight ago.
“We were really pleased, he ran the fastest last 600 of the race, but they probably just didn’t quite go quick enough for him to get over the top of them,” Scott said.
“He’s going very well, he’s raced well at Te Rapa before and the step-up in distance should help him, with a good gate. He’s a consistent, top-class racehorse that always goes out there and performs well. If the race is run to suit, he’ll be in it.”
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