PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK

Aquacade

Warren Kennedy knew he was on the best horse in this race, and he rode accordingly. Jumping from the second widest barrier, Warren summed the race up in a matter of 200m. By the time the field were going past the winning post on the first occasion, he had managed to slot in one of the fence with cover. From there it was simply a matter of waiting until the right time to present AQUACADE and rounding the corner you could see, she was mounting a winning run. A brilliant Auckland Cup trial and she looks mighty hard to beat in the feature on March 11.

RIDE OF THE WEEK

Terry Moseley – Red Sunday

A very patient ride early saw Terry Moseley take RED SUNDAY back in the field to find a run on the rail. The experience of the jockey showed when at the 600m mark, he was buried back in the field on the rail, he didn’t panic and continued to improve along the fence, inside runners. As a number of other runners were looking to scout wide and advance around the leaders, Terry had managed to move in to third by the 400m mark and was hot on the leading pairs heels. From there all he had to do was keep momentum up and smile for the photo. A very cool ride to score on the outsider.

HORSES TO FOLLOW 

Race 4 New Plymouth, Friday February 17

Belladonna Lily

Sent out at long odds, BELLADONNA LILY had a seemingly big task ahead of her from gate 10. Craig Grylls initially looked to find a spot around mid-field but as soon as it looked like she was going to be caught wide, he elected to restrain her to the rear of the field to get cover. In order to give her a winning chance, Craig chose to roll forward at the 800m mark sliding around the field. Unfortunately, this saw her flushed four and five-wide from the 600m mark and meant she had to sustain a long sweeping run around the field. She loomed up to win inside the last 200m but seemingly peaked on her run.

Race 8 Pukekohe, Saturday February 18

Roccia

The race had panned out so well for ROCCIA, until the 100m mark where she was really starting to rattle home and hit top gear when eventual race winner TEXAS drifted out to her running line, forcing Vinnie Colgan to restrain off heels and change his course back to the inside. The winning rider was ultimately suspended for the interference and a protest was lodged but soon dismissed. Although it is clearly hard to say ROCCIA would have won this race, it tells us that she is racing in great form and another win in Rating 65 grade is on the cards at short notice.

Race 3 Ascot Park, Saturday February 18

Henry Hubber

HENRY HUBBER ended up settling second last in running, where the only option was to begin circling the field and improve his position, which Diego Montes De Oca began to do at the 600m mark. On the point of the corner HENRY HUBBER was spotting the leader around 10 lengths as he was the widest runner entering the straight. From that point on it is very clear why he is a horse to follow. Recording the fastest last 400m & 200m sectionals of the race and going down by just a head margin to second favourite in the race TYLER EIGHT, who was able to lead and avoid covering extra ground throughout.