Probabeel trained and tested well in Sydney last week. Photo / Getty Images
Reinforcements are on their way to Sydney to try and reverse a mostly unlucky Kiwi attack at their richest racing carnival.
So strong are the newcomers, it’s no surprise to see three of the favorites being trained by the Kiwi on the second day of The Championships at Randwick on Saturday.
The Sydney Carnival has seen only a handful of top New Zealand winners so far, with team-mate Aegon at Hobartville Stakes worth A $ 400,000 on February 20 and Quick Thinker winning A $ 300,000 Chairman’s at Randwick on Saturday, a bright spot of a fruitless fall. that matter. Lots.
But NZ winner Oaks Amarelinha and rising sprint star Entriviere boarded a plane to Sydney today, both in ideal condition after hard work in Matamata yesterday.
“We are very happy with both of them, they are exactly where they want to be,” said coach Jamie Richards.
Amarelinha could start to be a favorite on the A $ 1 million ATC Oaks, with the odds increasing with each hour of sunshine between now and Saturday, which is expected to be a lot.
He’s never been beaten by a foal and earned $ 6 with Australian bookies over the weekend, with some concern he won’t make the trip if the tracks appear wet.
Once he lands in Australia today and if the weather remains good he will have to head to the market on Saturday, especially after his trial in Ellerslie last Tuesday showed he was taking no losses from the Oaks win and the trip to Trentham.
Opie Bosson will go to ride it and Richards is making his first trip to Australia in more than a year, both knowing that if all goes well, they can return next Monday without needing to be quarantined as the new transtasman bubble takes effect.
Entriviere, who has been a sensation in the sprint lineup at Ellerslie, looks like he has found the perfect race for his Australian debut in the A $ 300,000 Group 2 Sapphire Bet, which James McDonald will ride.
The Sapphire bet sees the horse being penalized more for Group 1 and 2 wins, while Entriviere has only won at the Group 3 level (twice), meaning he will only weigh 1.5kg over the base weight for his age.
Awaiting them in Sydney is the loyal Probabeel, who looks set to be the big shortener in the market for the A $ 1 million Coolmore Legacy this Saturday if the track returns to good.
She fits very well with horse-for-age mileage and has been immensely supported in this campaign’s much stronger weight-for-age race.
Doubts about how he could get through his All-Star Mile fiasco on the wet track were resolved when he put on a resounding trial last Thursday, with his Coolmore chances aided by the fact some of the big names in the early market for the race weren’t. start.
He was $ 4 in Australia last night but can start anywhere near $ 2.
The Matamata mare will headline the New Zealand team on Saturday, with the Quick Thinkers of Baker-Forsman and The Chosen One being the only Kiwis left in the Sydney Cup.
Both Concert Hall and Charles Road have performed so far under their best at the Chairman’s won by Quick Thinker on Saturday, they will miss the Cup and return home, with co-trainer Robert Wellwood suspecting Concert Hall may be suffering from cardiac fibrillation.
“We checked him after the race and his heart looked fine but there was clearly something wrong in the race because he was too sincere to be like that,” said Wellwood.
Also on the plane home and going to the spelling paddock will be the Rocket Derby runners Spade and The Frontman, as well as Aegon, who are unlucky at Doncaster.