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Tuhikaramea stable well armed for Cambridge meeting

The Tuhikaramea stable of Graeme and Debbie Rogerson and Clinton Isdale will be strongly represented at Waikato Thoroughbred Racing’s annual RDA Raceday at Cambridge on Wednesday, with the trio set to saddle 12 runners at the midweek meeting. They hold a strong hand in the Manning Investments (2000m), where Tarzador (Tarzino), Novak (El Roca) and Solidify (Redwood) are among the nominations, although the latter could be saved for Ellerslie on Saturday. Tarzador heads into the race in winning form, having scored over 1700 metres on the Awapuni synthetic late last month after placing at Cambridge, and Isdale is hopeful she can produce a similar effort. “She won really well,” Isdale said. “It was a tough run, she got taken on for the majority of the race but toughed it out nicely. She will be thereabouts.” Novak has placed at his past two starts, including when runner-up to stablemate Skymax at Cambridge a fortnight ago, and Isdale is expecting another honest performance. “He always runs a nice race,” said Isdale, who also owns the gelding. “He took off way too early last start and battled on well. He wasn’t going to go with Skymax, she is probably a bit too classy for synthetic racing.” The stable is weighing up whether to start Group 2 performer Solidify on Wednesday, but if he runs he will benefit from apprentice Tom Wigram’s four-kilogram claim, reducing his impost to 56.5 kilograms. “He seemed to handle the surface alright [in his only polytrack start earlier this month], he was just impeded by the big weight,” Isdale said. “We are 50-50 about going there with him, we may nominate him for Auckland and go there “He is not an overly big horse, so if he does run, the claim will assist.” Isdale is also looking forward to lining up Group 1 performer Domain Ace (Swiss Ace) in the Cambridge Equine Hospital (1550m), and expects improvement from his first run on the surface earlier this month, with the stable having varied his work and added blinkers. “You will see a different horse with blinkers on,” Isdale said. “He has been to the beach and he has been doing a bit of jumping as well.” Isdale also nominated Impressive Belle (Press Statement) in the Manning Investments (970m), Brutal Reality (Brutal) in the Group One Turf Bar (2000m), and Melkor (Telperion) in the TCL Earthworks (2000m) as leading chances for the stable. “Brutal Reality’s previous run on the poly was good, but she got impeded at Palmy and nearly fell. If she can run up to her previous start on the poly, she will be extremely hard to beat. “Melkor is also a nice chance. He went well the other day and got held up for a little bit.”

Legarto’s sister impresses at trials

The search for the next stable star is underway for Ken and Bev Kelso, with promising two-year-old Latoya (Proisir) catching the eye when winning an 800m trial at Avondale on Tuesday. The filly is a younger sister to five-time Group 1 winner Legarto (Proisir), who was recently sold to Yulong for A$2.8 million at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, and Kelso has liked what he has seen from the homebred juvenile. “She’s a good doer,” Kelso said. “She’s got a little bit of sass about her and I suppose in some way she’s similar to Legarto, but she’s a smaller version. “We were pleased with her trial today and she improved a lot from her first hit-out at Waipa.” Kelso admitted the stable was surprised by Latoya’s first trial effort but was encouraged by the improvement shown this week. “We were expecting an improvement today and she certainly did that,” he said. A raceday debut is likely in the coming weeks, although Kelso expressed frustration at the lack of opportunities for juveniles at this time of year. “Finding a two-year-old race is very difficult,” he said. “I think it’s totally ridiculous. The two-year-olds are our future, we need to have two-year-old races for these horses.” While Latoya shapes as an exciting prospect, the Kelsos are also looking ahead to spring with a strong team headed by Alabama Lass (Alabama Express), who has returned in excellent order following her summer break.“She looks fantastic. She put on about 60 kilos during her spell. Henley Park did a marvellous job with her,” Kelso said. “We haven’t ruled out going back to Australia and having another crack at the Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) where she ran second and was probably a little bit unlucky last year.”