Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray will be out to complete their trio of New Zealand feature two-mile successes at Trentham on Saturday when Nereus (NZ) (Savabeel) takes on the Gr.3 NZ Campus of Innovation and Sport Wellington Cup (3200m).
The Cambridge training partnership won both the Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) and Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m) last season with Mahrajaan, and while he was the headliner for the stable, waiting in the wings was emerging stayer Nereus, who took out the Gr.3 Awapuni Gold Cup (2100m) later in the autumn.
This term, the Savabeel five-year-old built to an impressive win in the Gr.3 Counties Cup (2100m), which subsequently had him carrying the top-weight in the Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2400m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day, where he finished eighth, a run Ritchie is happy to move on from.
“I think that (weight) was the significant difference, he’s not a big horse and with No Compromise compressing his weight down to 53kg at Counties, it looked a good race for him and that’s how it turned out,” he said.
“Obviously going up to the topweight in the Queen Elizabeth was a step too far, so it was a forgive run.
“We’re pretty convinced he’ll run the two miles out strongly, based on his trackwork and how well he relaxes early and mid-race. If that’s the case and we’ve got a two-miler, then it opens quite a few doors for us.
“We always thought he would be a Cups-style horse and the ultimate prizemoney is getting up to two miles, so we’ve wanted to try him at this distance.”
Nereus is currently rated a $13 chance for Saturday’s contest, with Victorian raider Interpretation heading the market at $3. While Ritchie knows the threat the gelding brings across the Tasman, Nereus also benefits from his presence in the race.
“The obvious thing here is the Australian horse coming over, he’s favourite and he’s going to be hard to beat,” Ritchie said. “But he does compress us down to a winnable weight, he gets us only three and half kilos off the minimum, a luxury compared to last time.
“He’s got a great record with Trentham, it’s the track he’s performed up to his best at. I’m really looking forward to the race on Saturday.”
Joining Nereus in the Central Districts will be Brave Spirit, who will have his first appearance at the races in over eight months in the Mode Technology 1200.
A son of Swiss Ace, Brave Spirit has never finished outside of the first four in eight starts and will contend with a barrier draw of 16 in the Rating 75 event.
“He hasn’t raced for a while and he’s got a wide draw, but I find the Trentham dogleg is quite forgiving of wide draws,” Ritchie said. “But it does make things tougher and you’ve got to be concerned about it.
“He’s had some little niggling problems since that trial with his feet, nothing too serious but just frustrating for us. Having said that, he’s missed very little work lately and we did scratch from barrier one about three weeks ago from a wet track.
“I think he’s a horse that will win a nice race, but whether it’s a forgive run first-up, it’s hard to tell. He shows plenty in trackwork, but with the one trial under his belt, he’s likely to need this race.”
Meanwhile, the stable is hoping to unveil their next Jennifer Eccles as the $1 million Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) looms in mid-March, with Spezzatura and Alaskan both hoping to take the next step towards a tilt at the Classic during the week.
At Te Rapa on Thursday, Spezzatura, a half-sister to Group One performing mare Supera, will take her place in the Waikato Stud @ Karaka 2025 (1600m) after a tidy third to Belle Tribute at New Plymouth last month.
“She’s a really lovely moving filly, she’s drawn well (5) and I’d expect her to race relatively handy,” Ritchie said.
“I think she’ll run well, she’s well-bred being a half to Supera from a Pencarrow family and I love her action. I’m dying to get her to 2000, but we thought another mile might suit, which may be her challenge tomorrow, whether it’s just a bit short.
“After this one, we hope to get her over ground and that might be time for punters to have a bet.”
Sunday’s NZB Karaka 2025 (2100m) will feature Alaskan, a filly by Niagara having her third race-day start at Ellerslie after placing at Tauranga.
“She’s a good filly, she’s a dead-set stayer,” Ritchie said.
“They’ve got to get rolling early on her and she’ll run the trip right out, that I’m certain of. She’s got to nail one of the maidens to take the next step, so I’m pleased she’s drawn a good gate so she doesn’t get too far back.
“If she can race handy, she’ll be extremely hard to beat on Sunday.”
