He only has two runners at Fannie Bay on Saturday, but Darwin trainer Jason Manning has every right to be optimistic when assessing the hopes of Noir De Rue and Kirakat.
Noir De Rue, third in the 2021 Darwin Cup (2050m) before backing up to finish fourth in the 2022 edition in August, lines up in the Sky Racing Benchmark 76 Handicap (1600m) where he will lump 63.5kg.
Kirakat features in the Off The Track 0-58 Handicap (1100m), the second of seven $20,000 heats in the 2022/23 Lightning Wet Season Series with the $40,000 final scheduled for Australia Day.
Formerly from Western Australia, where he had 52 starts for the Justin Warwick and Peter Fernie stables, Noir De Rue has only had seven starts in the Top End for two wins and three thirds.
The eight-year-old gelding won on his Top End debut in June last year in open company over 1200m and was fourth in the Chief Ministers Cup (1600m) in July before contesting the Darwin Cup which was won by Highly Decorated on the first Monday in August.
From September to May, the son of Blackfriars raced in South Australia seven times for three seconds at Morphettville before returning to Darwin.
A third in the ROANT Gold Cup (1300m) in June was followed by a third in the Chief Ministers Cup (1600m) before just missing out on a place in the $200,000 Darwin Cup behind the winner Playoffs.
It was then off to the paddock for a spell before returning on Melbourne Cup Day, where he gave the leaders a big start at open level over 1300m before sealing victory by six lengths.
Noir De Rue has a rating of 89, so Manning is understandably selective when it comes to races as his charger will be assigned a big weight.
“He’s just been a really great honest horse since we bought him, he’s always thereabouts,” Manning said.
“These horses, they get up in the ratings, we’ve really got to make sure that they’re on their game and target the right races.
“He had a good spell out at home.
“It didn’t come as much of a surprise when he won first up, but probably the margin was the surprise – the way he put them away the other day was impressive.
“They (Cielo D’Oro and Military Zone) went quite a steady Darwin style, which was always going to happen at 1300m.
“They set him up nicely, he was close enough to keep picking them up, and put them away.
“As they say cream rises to the top and he showed his class – I couldn’t be happier with him.
“The plan with this preparation was to have these two runs – the 1300m into the mile.
“After Saturday, we’ll work out where we go next.
“In the wet season he’s going to carry weight, but we took him to Adelaide last year and he campaigned quite well – but even down there you’re still carrying the 60kg and 61kg.
“There’s races in the Territory for him, so he’ll stay here.”
Despite being quoted as a $1.40 hope with online bookmakers, Noir De Rue will have his hands full this weekend as Gary Clarke stablemates The Mistral (57kg) and Prince Ruban (55kg) are last-start winners over 1600m and clearly have a weight advantage.
Kirakat had 11 starts in Victoria for Ballarat trainer Nigel Blackiston for a win, two seconds and a fourth on Ballarat’s synthetic surface – her only other start was a sixth on Pakenham’s synthetic surface in her final Victorian appearance in July.
The four-year-old mare was then purchased for $20,000 by Nathan Fairall, a client of Manning, at the 2022 Magic Millions Darwin Tried Horse Sale during the Darwin Cup Carnival in July.
In her first NT start on October 22, the daughter of Showcasing sat three wide behind the leader Northern Factor over 1100m (0-58) and was four wide after sharing the lead turning for home before just failing to overhaul Blueant in a blanket finish.
“I said to the owners pre-race that the first run on the track is always a little bit tricky, on the dirt,” Manning said.
“She didn’t have any first up form, but her work leading into it indicated that she can gallop a fair bit.
“She only went down by a head to a fit horse and probably strips fitter on Saturday – also drawn perfect in barrier three.
“She’s a nice mare, if she turns up again she’ll be hard to beat.
“Her rating, she’s 58, so she’s on the top of that 0-58 band and if she happens to get the money on Saturday we’ll look for a 0-64 or something thereabouts.
“If she doesn’t, we’ll look for another suitable race, but we’ll take it one race at a time.”
And did sitting so wide first up ultimately cost her victory?
“I wasn’t too concerned about that.” Manning said.
“She just got into a nice rhythm and travelled beautifully.
“I’d rather the horse travel in clear air, not getting the dirt pounded into their face first run on the track.
“People from down south are starting to see this more and more, especially with the more synthetic racing.
“They say keep them out of the dirt, keep them out of trouble and keep them flowing – sometimes they just appreciate it too, especially with their first run on the track.”
Manning and partner Vanessa Arnott, one of Darwin’s more experienced jockeys, celebrated a win at Fannie Bay last Saturday with four-year-old gelding Minister saluting over 1000m (0-58).
“Minister is a lovely horse, he’s won twice from his six runs since we bought him,” he said.
“He was good the other day, he was able to just sit off the pace and put them away.
“Whereas with his first up win he led and controlled from the front.
“A free-running horse, Vanessa gave him a great ride on Saturday – got the rails run and away he went.”
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