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Forsman with runners aplenty in Ellerslie features
Andrew Forsman will be chasing several repeats of history with seven runners across the two features events at Ellerslie on Saturday. The Cambridge-based trainer won last year’s Easter Handicap (Gr 3, 1600m) with White Noise (El Roca), and the son of El Roca (Fastnet Rock) will be among Forsman’s trio contesting Saturday’s race, alongside Group 2 performers Saint Bathans (Maurice) and Devastate (Vadamos). White Noise has been lightly-raced since his win in the 2023 renewal and Forsman is hoping to see improvement out of an uncharacteristic tenth placing in the Flying Handicap (Listed, 1400m) at Trentham first-up on April 6. “It was disappointing on face value, Masa Hashizume rode him and said he failed to handle what was a shifty track. Hopefully we can just put it down to that,” he said. “He has improved a lot from the trip to Trentham, and his work has been great.” Forsman’s quintet for the Championship Stakes (Gr 3, 2100m) are made up of The Patron Saint (Dissident), Rebecchi (Trapeze Artist), First Innings (Contributer), and current $4 favourite Moonlight Magic (Almanzor), who is still a maiden. “She’s had a very frustrating preparation,” Forsman said. “She’s a better horse than her form line reads, she was very unlucky last start and was cost valuable black-type through interference so hopefully she can gain that on Saturday.”
Patterson looks to add to black-type haul
Robbie Patterson has already won twice as many Group and Listed races in 2023-24 as any other season in his career, and the New Plymouth trainer has three chances to add to that tally at Riccarton on Saturday. The first of Patterson’s black-type chances at Riccarton on Saturday is in-form mare The Hottie (Swiss Ace), who is currently the $4 favourite for the Great Easter Stakes (Listed, 1400m) following a last-start success at the track over 1200 metres last Saturday. “It was a really good win the other day,” Patterson said. “We went into that race treating it kind of like a trial for this weekend, but she got the chocolates. She’s done well through the week and has tightened up from that run, which we expected she would. If she can bounce out of the gates and take up a similar handy position, there’s no reason why she can’t run another good race.” The Warstep Stakes (Listed, 2000m) provides a shot at redemption for It’s Doris (Telperion) after she ran a well-beaten 12th in last weekend’s NZB Insurance Stakes (Listed, 1600m). “She was drawn out and had a bit of a tough wide run, but I was still very disappointed with that performance,” Patterson said. “She’ll probably roll forward and sit up near the pace, and we’ll be looking for an improved performance if last week’s run was just down to track conditions.” Meanwhile, Our Jumala (Zed) will tackle the Canterbury Gold Cup (Gr 3, 2000m) following a brace of second placings, including in the Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 3, 2100m) at Trentham two weeks ago.
Marsh aiming to continue autumn juvenile trend
Stephen Marsh has made a habit of excelling at this stage of the season with his emerging two-year-old talents, and he is hoping to continue that trend in Saturday’s Star Way Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at Ellerslie. Marsh will be represented by Love Poem (Snitzel), Fillygizalook (Ardrossan), and Magna Memory (Magna Grecia) in this weekend’s $100,000 two-year-old feature. The best-performed of Marsh’s Star Way Stakes trio is Love Poem, who has had two starts for two placings behind high-class juvenile Captured By Love (Written Tycoon) in the Taranaki 2YO Classic (Gr 3, 1200m) and Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m). Love Poem’s only appearance since then was at the Cambridge trials on April 2, where she scored a comfortable victory over 950 metres. “She’s a lovely filly,” Marsh said. “She’s beautifully bred and has made such a strong start to her career with those Group placings in her first couple of starts. She had a nice trial win the other day. We didn’t ask her to do too much there and it was on her home track, no travel involved, so it was good. She hasn’t missed a beat since then. A good track should suit her nicely on Saturday. It’s not an overly big field, and it looks a very nice race for her if she can get the right run. She’ll head out to the paddock after this for a nice break, and then we’ll work out a spring campaign centred around the [New Zealand] 1,000 Guineas.”
Glimmer makes winning debut
Local trainer Rosie Gibbs made a welcome return to the winner’s stall following Glimmer’s (Staphanos) commanding debut win in a 1200-metre event at Waverley on Thursday. The three-year-old filly jumped well from the ace barrier and was sent straight to the front by jockey Chris Dell where the pair dictated terms and scored by 2.3 lengths over Hasbulla (Vespa). “I am absolutely thrilled,” said Gibbs, who was delighted to record her first victory in a decade. “She was only broken-in in August and then she had a bit of time off. She has done this all on one prep. Glimmer is going out for a spell now. She is quite a tall filly and I think she now needs a bit of time. She is very easy and agreeable to do anything with, but I don’t think it would be the right thing to carry on. We will plan to head towards the spring with her.”
Kennedy brings up season’s ton at Matamata
Premiership-leading jockey Warren Kennedy was the first to crack the 100-win mark for the season at Matamata on Friday when guiding Lightning Dream (Rip Van Winkle) to victory in a 1600-metre event. From her draw in barrier nine, Lightning Dream went back to settle towards the rear of the field for Kennedy before being asked to improve from the 400-metre mark and was presented wide at the turn where she continued to improve and eventually ran out a 0.8 lengths victory over Tikaani (Tivaci). “From the gate she really struggled early, so I left her alone and let her find her feet,” Kennedy said. “She relaxed beautifully and finished strongly, and I think she’ll definitely get over more ground.”
Go Racing appoint Allnutt as general manager
Go Racing have appointed Matt Allnutt as their new general manager. Allnutt has been with Go Racing for over ten years working as a racing manager. “I’m excited about taking on the new GM role,” Allnutt said. “Go Racing is well established as a leading player in the industry and I’m incredibly proud of the authentic experience we offer our owners, many of whom are now friends. Rest assured, Albert is not going anywhere, he will continue to work full time particularly focusing on innovative and strategic projects, looking for the next exciting opportunity for our owners.”