Sprocket Rocket takes off with Miss Scenicland Stakes
Riccarton trainer Mike McCann kicked off his week on the West Coast in emphatic style at Omoto on Sunday, taking out the Westland Racing Club Miss Scenicland Stakes (1500m) with progressive mare Sprocket Rocket.
The daughter of What’s The Story had found the winner’s enclosure over 2000m back in September, and since, had produced consistent performances in strong Rating 75 fields. Dropping back to the 1500m, Sprocket Rocket had opened at $14 with TAB bookmakers, but the added benefit of apprentice jockey Ruvanesh Muniandy’s three-kilogram claim had her price shorten significantly, starting at $7 on the Fixed Odds.
Listed winner Epee Beel and North Island visitor Regal Dice were the key picks in the fillies and mares contest and both jumped away positively, with the latter eventually taking the lead by default heading into the first turn.
Sprocket Rocket initially settled near the tail of the field, but Muniandy was assertive, tracking wide along the back stretch and took over the lead at the 800m. Epee Beel stalked the first pair and looked likely turning for home, but Sprocket Rocket was in for the fight and lifted in the closing stages, taking the victory by a head.
Retail Therapy was the eye-catcher in the remainder of the field, missing the start by a significant margin and powering home into third.
McCann, who also part-owns the five-year-old, was delighted with the result in a track he anticipated would suit his mare.
“On her day, she’s a good mare,” he said.
“I’ve always rated her, but my theory is that you only go somewhere once and if it doesn’t work out, you go back to where you belong. Today was her day to go here, the track suited while it possibly didn’t suit some other horses and she got what she was after.
“He (Muniandy) ran half a furlong sooner than I wanted. I told him where to go from and when he went, I thought woah, just wait a bit longer, but he knows what he’s doing and he knows this mare.
“You can give them too many instructions sometimes, I can’t feel what she’s like out there.”
The West Coast circuit continues on to Reefton on Wednesday before the Kumara meeting next Saturday, which will play host to the iconic Kumara Gold Nuggets (1800m), a race McCann is now considering for Sprocket Rocket.
“If she comes through this, we may as well go for the Nuggets now,” he said.
Out of a one-win mare Sudders, Sprocket Rocket has now won three races and placed in a further seven from 24 starts, earning just over $100,000.