Two Invitation races, which are basically the consolation events to the Group 1 finals, form part of the undercard for the Plasterboard Ltd Auckland Cup meeting on Sunday afternoon.
Pictured: Timma Turtle, who has drawn ideally for Sunday’s Invitation Stakes
The $7,500 Invitation Stakes over the 527m trip and the 318m $5,000 Invitation Sprint fields contain a number of heat contenders from last Sunday’s qualifying rounds for both Group 1 features.
$7,500 INVITATION STAKES
The Lisa Cole trained Timma Turtle is the first reserve for the $80,000 Plasterboard Ltd Auckland Cup following his bold heat effort. He attempted to lead his heat rivals throughout, however he was cut back by a neck and a half-length margin when finishing third. Being allocated the ace-trap to exit from suggests that he is likely to adopt those same catch-me-if-you-can racing tactics again. “I was disappointed that he didn’t hold on in his cup heat when basically he sat down over the last 30 odd meters,” said Brendon Cole.
Cawbourne Brick finished fourth in last year’s Auckland Cup final for Matt Roberts. He was sighted finishing stoutly from the rear group when finishing an 8.75 length fourth in his cup heat. His recent racing sees this bloke being thoroughly conditioned for this event and this known railer will enjoy stepping away for the two trap here.
Kava Blu was last year’s Auckland Cup runner up when prepared by Dave and Jean Fahey. He copped a check during the early rush in his cup heat, following which he was transferred into the care of northern trainers Wayne and Tracey Steele. His stakes earning claim here cannot be lightly dismissed, even from his lousy five trap draw.
His new kennelmate Opawa Kuru was sighted doing his best work during the run home in his Auckland Cup heat. A tardy start saw him settling in the rear group then. Drawing out in the eight trap says that he must punch forward during the early rush for positions here.
Local trainer Denis Schofield has also accepted with two runners here. Lochinvar Brogue had delivered a solid set of Cambridge 375m sprints after resuming from a spell. He then stepped up to 527m racing for his Auckland Cup heat where he finished up a 1.9 length fourth. He holds sound looking claims of being required to attend the post-race podium following this event.
Manukau Invitation Stakes contenders includes (from left): Cawbourne Brick, Kava Blu, Lochinvar Brogue
His kennelmate Gold Class hasn’t been using the known early pace that she owns in her recent 527m assignments. She was in solid form a few races ago when she was lobbing straight onto the early pace. That’s a tactic which she must use when exiting from trap four here. Schofield also has Blazing Spirit sitting as the second reserve. He caught the eye in the strong manner he completed his Cambridge 457m outing on Thursday evening when finishing third in a swiftly completed race.
Canterbury trainer Craig Roberts travelled north with a team for last Sunday’s big ticket round of heats. Included was Mina Allen who delivered a competitive cup track debut on the pace effort when she raced in third throughout to claim that placing. That says natural improvement from her debut effort can see her delivering a competitive 527m on Sunday.
Roberts also has the first reserve with the promising chaser Allen Hadrian who will be making his track debut outing if he’s required. He contested the Thursday afternoon Otago C4/5 545m main event, where after trying to chase after the tear away pace-making winner, he was squeezed back into the midfield, then he dug in deep to finish 9.1 lengths behind the strong Southern Lights in fourth.
Loose Unit is a recent Aussie imported chaser for Steve Clark, who also contested the open class Cambridge 457m event on Thursday evening. He was checked during the early rush for positions and he never recovered from that. He was also badly inconvenienced just after the start in his Auckland Cup heat. It was his prior strong 30.81s C3 527m win that underlined his ability.
$5,000 INVITATION SPRINT
Von Trapp drew the one trap when he resumed from a spell for his Railway Sprint heat. His 318m heat effort was solid when running fourth, especially as he is a sprinter who shows a distinct preference for the wider draws. Drawing out in trap seven for this sprint is going to suit him much better and expected improvement by him for this dash can see this Ben Craik prepared sprinter being involved at the sharp end of the finish in this dash.
Lover is now the sole reserve for the Railway Sprint final in which he missed making the $25,000 by just a head margin. That was a bold track debut performance by him. He tends to be a tad hit or miss at the jump. A quick start in this dash can see this bloke strongly featuring at the business here.
Harkonen Bale was also on track debut when he contested his Railway Sprint heat for Craig Roberts. His heat sprint for third contained merit as he got involved in a degree of jostling shortly after the start. He was back in the field when turning in for the run home from where he proceeded to put in big late bounds which carried him into his heat placing. He will be sighted wearing the pink racing vest on Sunday, which he hasn’t carried to victory yet. In saying that a first three finish certainly is within the reach of his paws.
Manukau Invitation Sprint contenders includes (from left): Von Trapp, Lover, Harkonen Bale
Lisa Cole is returning north with a pair of sprinters (plus she also has a reserve) for this key support dash. Daisy Lara also completed her Railway heat in third. She finishing stoutly from the midfield to claim that placing. She has been known to contest the early pace in her previous sprints and being allocated the one-trap to hop away from here provides her with every opportunity of being able to contest the early pace.
Effective Power is also another Cole trained sprinter who was an 18.31s 318m winner prior to contesting her Railway heat where she lost her qualifying claims when she was forced to race wide around the bend. Bigtime Thinker is the race second reserve for Cole. She was held in midfield traffic throughout when contesting her Railway heat, when on track debut. All three of the Cole trained sprinters accepted here will contest the open class 305m Hatrick dash on Friday evening.
Fantastic Sid is a Denis Schofield prepared sprinter who owns a fair amount of strength and he certainly adds to the place puzzle this field presents. His hard railing tendencies has proven to be costly in the past as seen in his Railway heat when he became tangle up with other runners. Being drawn in the three trap here is slightly better for him.
His kennelmate Fantastic Ava is the first reserve. She’ll add interest to this sprint if she gains a race start here. Interest because she set up a solid early pace when contesting her Auckland Cup and led into and halfway down the back straight from where she compounded on her gallop during the run home. She led throughout when delivering her prior C4 18.47s 318m win.
The Cambridge training partnership of Greg Hore and Peter Fergusson provide the remaining two contenders. Both of them sprinted over the 375m dash on their local track on Thursday evening. It was Sketchy Chief who strongly prevailed in that sprint when he easily led home his rivals to clock a handy 21.24s. His kennelmate Tumbalaioo was impeded shortly after the start was made. He knuckled down to his task which saw him bravely recovering to wind up fourth, 5.5 lengths behind his kennelmate.
Manukau Invitation Sprint contenders includes (from left): Effective Power, Fantastic Sid, Sketchy Chief
By Peter Fenemor
