Osteria was only upstaged by his talented older stablemate last time out, and back in his own age group, the gelding will be a contender in Thursday’s Group 2 Auckland Guineas (1400m) at Ellerslie.
The progressive son of Ribchester broke his maiden comfortably at Pukekohe in November, putting a space on subsequent winners Tycoon Prince and Hard Roca. Stepping out at Ellerslie for the first time, he was beaten less than a length by Group Three-performing mare Irish Legacy, a performance that gave trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood confidence to push on to the Guineas distance.
“He’s come on really well and I’m quite looking forward to seeing him over 1400m,” Wellwood said.
“He’s been a little bit of a hard-going horse, but in his last two or three runs he’s been really good. We’ve got the confidence to step him up to 1400m now, and back against his age group will be suitable, albeit there are a few really nice horses.
“In saying that, I think he deserves his place in the field.”
Masa Hashizume will take the ride aboard Osteria in the feature, having barrier 10 of 11 to contend with.
“We’ll see how he jumps, but the gate is the niggle,” Wellwood said. “We’ll probably have to ride him quietly from there.”
The royally bred Irish Legacy will also step out on Boxing Day. Faring far better in the barrier draw, the daughter of I Am Invincible will jump from barrier three in the Rating 75 contest, aiming to go back-to-back after her effortless win at the course on December 7.
“She was very impressive, she’s come through it well and she’s a bigger, stronger horse this time in as a four-year-old,” Wellwood said. “She’s drawn well and has ticked every box.
“If we could see what we saw last time we would be pretty happy, she’s quite full-on and the big thing with her is getting her racing relaxed. She clearly steps up in grade and it’s a pretty nice field on Thursday, but if she’s racing kindly and hitting the line strong, that gives us confidence to step out to 1400 perhaps next start.”
Later on the card, Hasstobeawinner will carry a luxury weight, by his standards, in the Stella Artois 1500 Championship Final (1500m).
There are few horses that have shown the consistency of Hasstobeawinner in his career, and while only winning one race, the gelding has finished in the first three on 10 occasions, including a narrow miss in the $350,000 Sir Patrick Hogan Karapiro Classic (1600m) last term.
“He’s such an honest horse and always puts his best foot forward,” Wellwood said.
“He’s been going well and I’m really looking forward to seeing him back in the weights, he gets 55kg in this race and he hasn’t had that on his back in a long time. I’m sure he’ll try his guts out again.”
Completing the Kingsclere contingent will be Dionysus, a multiple Group Three winner taking on the Group 1 Zabeel Classic (2050m).
The seven-year-old finished midfield in the Group 1 Livamol Classic (2040m) in October before heading to Australia, where he was sixth in the Listed Beauford (2300m) before a disappointing performance in the Listed ATC Cup (2000m).
Returning back to Cambridge, Dionysus will now be targeted towards the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2400m) the following week, a race he won two years ago.
“He was probably a bit disappointing in Australia and the weight-for-age 2000m isn’t all that suitable, but we want to give him a run so he’s rock-hard ready for the Queen Elizabeth Cup on New Year’s Day,” Wellwood said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed a bit of cheek, but really, it’s a run to get him ready for that race.”
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