Last weekend’s New Plymouth abandonment has forced Allan Sharrock into a change of plans with his Group One winner Ladies Man, who is entered to kick off his seven-year-old season in the H&T Agronomics/Agricom Open (1200m) at Wanganui on Saturday.
The Seaton Park (1400m) at New Plymouth was intended to be Ladies Man’s first step along the road to a defence of his title in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) at Hastings on October 12.
With that race washed away and a week lost from the build-up, Sharrock is now unwilling to overly tax the Zed gelding in a race against time over the next three weeks.
“Losing that run last weekend means his Livamol prep is finished,” Sharrock said. “It’s just going to be too tough to get him ready for that race in the small amount of time that we have left. And if I pushed him too hard to try to get him there, I’d run the risk of ruining a very good horse.
“There’s a lot of other good weight-for-age races coming up for him over the summer, and the first target we’ll work towards with him will probably be the Balmerino Stakes (Gr.3, 2000m) at Ellerslie on Melbourne Cup Day.
“He’s entered for Wanganui on Saturday, but the track is going to be quite testing there, so I haven’t yet decided whether he’ll run there or not. I also have the option of saving him for a better track at Te Rapa next Friday. But either way, he’s coming up well.
“It’s a bit of a shame to have to rule him out of the Livamol, but we’ve still got his stablemate Islington Lass heading in that direction. She won very well last week despite disliking the wet ground and not being fully at concert pitch.”
The TAB currently rates Islington Lass a $10 fifth favourite in a Livamol Classic market headed by El Vencedor ($5), Campionessa ($7), Mustang Valley ($7) and One Bold Cat ($7).
Meanwhile, Sharrock’s team at Wanganui on Saturday also includes the Gr.3 Hunterville Vet Club Metric Mile (1600m) contender Justaskme.
This will be the 50th race of an outstanding career for the nine-year-old, who has won 13 races and banked more than $540,000.
Justaskme’s 1800m open handicap was one of three races run at New Plymouth last Saturday before the meeting was called off. He made up ground from the back of the field to finish fourth behind Aljay.
“That was a bit of a funny race,” Sharrock said. “They ran it six seconds slower than the first race, which was a Rating 65. It turned into a sprint to the finish and the on-speed horses just ran away from him a little bit, but it wasn’t a bad run.
“With a senior rider on (Jonathan Riddell), 58 kilos on his back and a nice draw (nine), I think he’s a lot better than a runner’s chance on Saturday. It could end up being quite a nice race for him to finish up his very good career on. We’re not far away from that now.”
Sharrock has a rare early two-year-old runner on Saturday with Almakeitgood lining up in the Pilet Contracting Ltd/Pioneer Seeds 2YO (800m).
The filly is a daughter of Ardrossan and the Sepoy mare Cortado, which makes her a full-sister to last season’s talented juvenile Maracatu. Sharrock bought Almakeitgood for $90,000 from Elsdon Park’s draft in Book 1 of Karaka 2024.
“I don’t have many early two-year-olds, but I bought this filly to run in the million-dollar race (Karaka Millions 2YO, 1200m) and I think she’s very talented,” Sharrock said.
“It won’t be ideal track conditions on Saturday to kick a baby off in, although she seemed to handle heavy ground okay in her gallop on Tuesday. The fact that it’s the first race of the day should also help.”
Sharrock also expects another strong showing from Bella Timing in the Manawatu Toyota/John Turkington Forestry (1200m). The four-year-old is a half-sister to Sharrock-trained stars Darci La Bella and Tavi Mac, and she has been runner-up in three of her last four appearances.
“I’ve scratched a few runners on Saturday who had inside draws because of the way I think the track is going to be, but I think she’s nicely drawn at nine,” Sharrock said. “I thought she could win last week, but her race didn’t get run. From her work this week, I think she’s pretty close to the mark again and should be a very good chance.
“She’s had quite a big campaign, so I might turn her out after this and save her for the autumn.”
