By Mac Henry
Just after five on Saturday, the tapes will fly for one of the strongest Ascot Park Hotel Invercargill Trotting Cup fields in years and those tapes could be crucial to the outcome.
Only 10 runners but five lines of tapes and for some of the key runners, a nervous time.
Nigel McGrath and the Purdon/Rasmussen team provide the bulk of the field with three starters each, household harness names like Hope, Dalgety and Dunn have one each and local trainer Brent Shirley has last year’s winner Costa Del Magnifico back to defend his title. Nathan Williamson takes the reins on Saturday leaving last year’s winning driver Matt Anderson to seek back to back Cups for himself aboard Motu Premier.
Given the strength of the field, Shirley says luck will play a big part. Driving Vi Et Animo to beat Sleepy Tripp and win the March 2010 Cup, he recalls being the first of six or seven different leaders and said the key was only having to make one move after not doing any work. He said Costa Del Magnifico had a workout last Saturday, finished it off very strongly, and is as good as he can get him.
“The only thing I’m confident of is him being the first Southland-trained horse home,” Shirley quipped.
Costa Del Magnifico is also owned in the province but not the only Cup runner with that claim. Mossdale Conner, who beat Costa Del Magnifico in the rich Northern Southland Cup on Ascot Park when they met last March, is another and so is Captain Dolmio, the drive of John Dunn. Captain Dolmio last raced in the Central Otago Cup and after sitting parked for the last lap, was cut back to third in the shadows of the post.
“He went great at Central Otago after doing work, I’m not saying he’s improved since then but is just as good,” said Dunn who expects whoever is in front will set a solid tempo and if a four minute pace is the result it wouldn’t worry his charge.
His brother Dexter was behind Captain Dolmio at Omakau but on Saturday returns to the 2014 Hunter Cup winner Christen Me, lone back-marker off 40 metres. He is racing south of Oamaru for the first time in his career and trainer Cran Dalgety said the race is the best option for him.
“There is an expence involved in going to Australia, we stayed home and he had to do something, he’s a racehorse, enjoys it so best for him to be in work,” Dalgety said. “He’s still very competitive and in good shape. 40 metres is a big handicap but worth the try.”
Dalgety expects a quick time on Saturday and if they break four minutes, says Christen Me will have to go four seconds faster to win. He respects the whole field but with the likes of Classie Brigade, Costa Del Magnifico and Mossdale Conner only 10 metres in front of him at the start, knows Christen Me remains a winning chance.
“It will depend on the tempo of the race,” he concluded.
McGrath says having three in the race is not ideal but Ears Burning, Maverick and Classie Brigade have raced each other before and produced the trifecta in the Ashburton Cup. Classie Brigade won the Boxing Day feature from 10 metres in 3:58.8, over Maverick and Ears Burning. In addition, Classie Brigade and Ears Burning have quinellad at Addington (10 December) and the Central Otago Cup, while Ears Burning and Maverick were the quinella on Addington on 16 December.
While clearly rating “proven competitor” Classie Brigade his best chance, McGrath notes he couldn’t beat Heaven Rocks when they went off the same marks from behind the mobile and on Saturday has to give him a 30 metre start.
“He’s a good stand-start horse,” he said of Classie Brigade, “but he’ll need to go away quickly.”
McGrath drives Ears Burning himself and he goes off the front, the same situation as when third at Ashburton clocking 3:59.3.
“He has progressed nicely through the grades and is a nice stand-start horse,” he said.
“Maverick (Colin de Filippi) has good manners and is pretty versatile, he is probably lacking speed so the two miles will suit.”
Off the same marks, Maverick finished half a neck from Classie Brigade at Ashburton in 3:58.4.
When feature races come along, the team of Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen always play a big part. Most interest on Saturday is in Heaven Rocks whose three starts at Ascot Park have returned two wins and an 11th, which sums it up succinctly. He has never started from a stand on raceday and only had one opponent when winning two stand-start trials earlier in the month. The most recent was with raceday driver Michelle Neilson in the sulky.
On the All Stars website, Rasmussen indicates Heaven Rocks has done enough at the trials to be ready for 3200 metres first-up but the worry is the start.
“ Michelle’s main job will be to get him away even if its slowly,” she says. “If he did make it away from the stand reasonably well, he would be hard to beat.”
Alta Ronaldo has a good stand-start record. He was the other horse to contest the trials won by Heaven Rocks.
“He usually does things right and I think he is ready,” Rasmussen says on the website.
Butterworth Racing are represented by Motu Premier. Rasmussen comments he should be in the thick of it all the way in a tough field.
There are no female horses and only one female driver in the Cup. Records show no female driver has won the feature so it could be a big day for Neilson.
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