Local Te Rapa trainer David Green has three or four problems.
One is his desperation to get his rising staying star High Kin a start in tomorrow's $80,000 Hibiscus Painters Taumarunui Gold Cup.
High Kin, winner of her last three races, is first emergency.
Green does not have a rider for High Kin. Given that the quality mare needs a scratching to get into the field, he will consider the rider of the scratched runner, should there be one.
In case he feels that rider might not suit the mare, or the jockey may not be light enough to ride at 53kg, Green has apprentice Alex Forbes on stand-by.
The further problem Green says he has is finding a replacement race for High Kin if she doesn't make it back into the Taumarunui Cup field.
"And keeping her sane while we find that race," he says. "She's a mare that likes to keep moving and she's got fresh since she last raced in June and she wants to do something."
High Kin is going to be one of the main chances if she gets a start. She is on the improve, has no weight on her back and is favoured with an inside barrier.
"She's been working very well," says Green. It is a particularly strong Taumarunui Cup line-up though.
There is Indikator, The Jungle Boy, Jungle Juice, last year's winner Marea Alta, dual recent winners Ourforeignminister and Rising Tide as well as Intransigent.
Marea Alta has been in wonderful form, winning at Waverley then against a stronger field at Tauranga. She won this race last year off the minimum 53kg and has 56.5kg facing a more talented field.
Despite that she deserves plenty of attention.
The Jungle Boy won stylishly fresh from a break over 1600m at Ellerslie two starts back, then had no luck under a big 60.5kg at Ruakaka. That's close enough to a perfect preparation for this.
Indikator is as good as we've got for races like this, but has been battling just a little under 59kg topweights lately. He has the same 59kg to cope with again and the No 17 barrier draw will do him no favours.
Race 3, the Taumarunui Cosmopolitan Club 1400m, is typical of a few fields lately - not enormous in numbers, but extremely even and difficult to analyse.
Te Toro Lass is the type that can feature here. She does not have an enormous record at Te Rapa, but this race suits and she has drawn the rails barrier.
Whoshe found the wet track in her favour to win at New Plymouth last week, but is unlikely to find similar conditions this time with the Waikato weather having cleared. Rain on the day suits her.
