By MIKE DILLON
The owners of The Pumper reasoned quite fairly they probably wouldn't be allowed to call the horse Might And Power.
So after he was born on the day Might And Power won the Melbourne Cup they did the next best thing and gave him the nickname of his regular rider Jim Cassidy.
There is a long way for the promising 3-year-old to go before he even gets Might And Power's shadow in sight, but after just four starts trainer Roger James is starting to believe he has something special on his hands.
The Pumper trials for the $A460,000 Rosehill Guineas on March 31 in today's $10,000 Genuine Vehicle Imports Handicap at Ellerslie, provided the heavy rain that has saturated the Waikato in the last 36 hours did not hit Auckland last night.
The Kaapstad gelding has won two of his four starts, but James says they were won on ability rather than because The Pumper had any idea of what he was doing.
"He's been going around wondering what it's all about," said James last night from Melbourne, where he is preparing Giovana for Monday's $A1.25 million Australian Cup.
"But the improvement in his work since he last raced at Trentham and since we put blinkers on him has been incredible.
"I'm starting to believe he could be something special. An example of that is that there he is tomorrow as a Class 2 horse in a Class 4 field and I expect him to win."
The danger could be the McKee-trained Lyn's Legacy.
On a day when a few short-priced favourites might get the money, Kakaho (No3, R5) should win again on the strength of his impressive runaway win last week. He is a horse of some ability.
If there is any justice, Cool Sound (No3, R1) should win the first after finishing third to classy mare Blanchard in a much stronger field at Te Rapa last start. He is a solid stayer and it looks that sort of race.
Sunrise Girl (No3, R2) can be forgiven failing in shocking conditions at Tauranga last start. Assess her here on the improver's second at Avondale the time before. This is not an overly strong maiden field.
Victory Smile (No1, R6) will be a strong favourite and while he will take some beating, he has 58kg and is backing up quickly after a tough fight with Blanchard last Saturday. Keep him safe, but perhaps take some savers on value runners Tycoon Jack (No3), Trafalgar Flyer (No2) and Gypsy Moth (No5).
If Hello Dolly (No1, R7) produces the same effort that got her within 1 1/2 1/2 lengths of Tall Poppy in the big weight-for-age race last week she will win today. She has been backed up a week apart only once before and failed, but the track conditions that day did not suit. This is a fair bit easier than anything she has raced against lately, even though giving 1.5kg to Ismailia (No5) will be no walk in the park.
Race8, the sprint, is a trick race. Anything could happen. Perhaps the best tip would be if we got rain overnight and Party Queen (No7) became suited.
As impressive as Vinaka was in winning at Matamata two weeks ago, his performance was probably shadowed slightly by the third placing of South Islander Coup Ray behind Flying Babe in the $500,000 Mercedes Classique at Te Rapa. That was a massive performance and if he can reproduce it when he faces up to Vinaka in today $100,000 Wakefield Stakes at Trentham he is going to take plenty of beating. Coup Ray can hit the finish hard and the expansive Trentham will allow him that opportunity. It should be a great match.
Racing: Promise starts to show in The Pumper
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.