3 minute read
Marsh duo to face challenging assignments; Te Rapa hit-out for Avantage; Good will gesture for Captain Tom supporters
Marsh duo to face challenging assignments
Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh has lower North Island assignments for a pair of his higher profile gallopers over the coming weeks.
Five-year-old gelding Vernanme will contest the Gr.3 Powerworx Taranaki Cup (1800m) on Saturday after being well-held in the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) on Boxing Day, while in-form mare Tabata is nominated for the Listed Property Brokers Wairarapa Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1600m) at Tauherenikau on Monday.
Despite dropping back in grade with Vernanme, Marsh is concerned that he again meets Group One winner Concert Hall among a strong line-up in Saturday's Group Three.
"Probably bringing him back to the 1800m looks ideal," Marsh said.
"It is a good field though with horses like Group One winner Concert Hall, it is very tidy.
"He has drawn nicely (barrier eight) with Michael McNab on and visor blinkers. He should be able to run a real race I would have thought, but it is a very tidy field."
Meanwhile, impressive last start Trentham winner Tabata is likely to take her place at stakes level on Monday for owner Brendon McCullum.
"She may well take her place, I just have to talk to Brendon," Marsh said.
"Again, it is one of the nicest fields that the race has come up with for a while. We have a few options with her, we may just pay up and see what we draw but she is a good mare and she certainly deserves some black-type but whether we have a crack at weight for age yet or not, we will just work it out closer to the time."
Te Rapa hit-out for Avantage
Avantage pleased trainer Jamie Richards with her exhibition gallop at Te Rapa on Wednesday ahead of her tilt at a seventh elite-level victory at the Waikato track in 10 days' time.
The daughter of Fastnet Rock will contest the Gr.1 BCD Sprint (1400m) and Richards said she needed the hit-out after last racing at Trentham last month when recording back-to-back wins in the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m).
"She's a month between runs and up to 1400m, so she needed to do something and we gave her a similar prep last year," Richards said.
"I was pleased with the work. She looked good to me in her action and Opie (Bosson, jockey) was pleased with how she felt.
"She'll improve again for that and she's going to have to be at her best because there is a very exciting mare in Levante coming through the grades and it's going to be a wonderful contest."
A $1.8 million earner, Avantage was bought by Te Akau principal David Ellis for $210,000 at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling, from the Oaks Stud draft.
Good will gesture for Captain Tom supporters
The TAB has rewarded punters who followed the omen bet at Te Rapa when backing the Richard Collett-trained Captain Tom in race three, despite the son of showcasing being relegated from first after causing interference over the concluding stages.
Named after Captain Sir Tom Moore, the British WWII veteran who raised millions of pounds for health service workers on the frontline of the battle against COVID-19, the three-year-old gelding was a popular bet after the passing of his namesake overnight.
After laying out and impeding two rivals over the concluding stages, Captain Tom was relegated to third in the 1200m contest, but the TAB paid out all win bets placed on the runner digitally as bonus bets.
