Volkara win likely to raise Waipukurau trainer's profile

Waipukurau thoroughbred trainer Kirsty Lawrence doesn't mind taking other people's outcasts, especially if they show as much potential as her latest acquisition, Volkara.
The four-year-old Volksraad mare had her first start in Lawrence's colours at Sunday's Wairarapa meeting and broke out of maiden ranks with a game half-length win over 2050m.
Volkara had been trained at Hastings by John Bary, who had produced her to record a third, a fourth and a fifth in four starts this season.
"John sacked the horse after she ran fifth at the Waipukurau meeting last month and I picked her up that day," Lawrence recalled.
"I haven't done anything miraculous with the horse but I've just got her fit and she seems to be happy in a smaller stable environment."
Volkara is raced by a large syndicate of owners that includes Waipukurau insurance agent Chris Walker and Dannevirke's Simon Alexander, husband of former trainer Katrina Alexander.
"I used to do a fair bit of pre-training for Katrina and Simon when they had their own team of horses and I've always had a good relationship with them," Lawrence added.
Simon Alexander was the only member of the syndicate on hand to help celebrate Volkara's win on Sunday. Chris Walker was at the Karaka yearling sales, where he had a share in a colt that was sold at Sunday's Festival session.
Although it was only a maiden win, Volkara clocked a time that was almost half a second faster than Shotgun Start took to win the next race, the Rating 90 Wairarapa Cup.
Lawrence said the mare will now more than likely head to a $10,000 Rating 70 2100m at Otaki on February 26.
Lawrence presently has 14 horses in her care, with five of those being ones she is breaking in for Wanganui trainer Kevin Myers. She said that, in the past, she has mainly had to work with problem horses who other trainers have given up on, or those that just at the pre-training stage.
"But the phone has been ringing since Volkara's win on Sunday with people wanting to give me horses, so, hopefully, something will come out of it," she added.
Jimmy Choux heading straight for the DerbyStar Hastings three-year-old Jimmy Choux is unlikely to race again before the $2.2 million Telecom New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie on March 5.
Trainer John Bary had considered running the Thorn Park colt again in the Group 2 $85,000 Avondale Guineas (2100m) at Ellerslie on Saturday week as a final lead-up but said yesterday he would stick to his original plans and bypass that race.
"He won't run in the Avondale Guineas unless he got too fresh and really needed another run," Bary said. Jimmy Choux has raced best when his races have been spaced and Bary is confident he has done enough to now head straight into the Derby.
The outstanding colt has been installed a $3 favourite for New Zealand's most prestigious three-year-old race after demoralising his rivals in last Saturday's Group 3 $70,000 Waikato Guineas.
He made light work of his first start beyond 1600m, with rider Jonathan Riddell easing him down in the last few strides as he cruised to a 2-length victory in the 2000m feature.
It was his eighth win from 15 starts and easily his most comprehensive. It also took his stake earnings past the $900,000 mark.
Both Bary and Riddell say Jimmy Choux has gone to another level in his past couple of starts and is now relaxing so perfectly in his races that the extra 400m of the Derby should hold no fears for him.
Bary said the horse pulled up well after Saturday's win and looks as bright as ever.
"He was a bit muscle-tired afterwards but that was to be expected in his first race beyond 1600m but he has come through it very well," Bary added.
The TAB bookmakers reacted quickly after Jimmy Choux's dominant performance on Saturday.
He was the $4 equal favourite for the Derby, with He's Remarkable, before the Waikato Guineas but has come in a point while He's Remarkable has gone out slightly to $5.
He's Remarkable, from the Cambridge stable of Roger James, was missing from last Saturday's race and is likely to have his final lead-up to the Derby in the Group 2 $85,000 Avondale Guineas.
The TAB bookmakers have just three horses under double-figure odds for the New Zealand Derby. The other is the Shaune Ritchie-trained Hidden Asset ($9), who finished a distant sixth behind Jimmy Choux on Saturday.
Jimmy Choux will be Bary's first runner in a New Zealand Derby while both James and Ritchie have tasted success in the race in the past.
James has won it four times, three in partnership and one on his own, while Ritchie saddled up Military Move to victory last year.
Wairoa race next for Rio Nugget
Hastings-trained Rio Nugget will attempt to record a hat-trick of wins when she tackles a $12,000 Restricted Open 1200m at Wairoa on Sunday week.
The Captain Rio mare followed up a comfortable length victory in a Rating 70 1200m at Otaki on January 4 with another excellent performance in a Rating 80 1200m at Wanganui last Thursday.
Normally a front runner, Rio Nugget settled further back than anticipated at Wanganui but produced a strong finishing burst against the inside rail to get up and win by a long head.
Rio Nugget was formerly trained in the north, where she was a winner over 1200m at Avondale.
She was transferred to the Hastings stable of Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen in the middle of last year and has recorded two wins, two seconds and a fourth from her past five starts for them.
"She's a mare that is improving all the time and she's only four so she could go on and pick up a decent sprint race," Cullen said yesterday.
Rio Nugget is owned by the Auckland-based pair of Frank Gilchrist and Chris Cowell, who bought her for $16,000 at a Karaka mixed bloodstock sale in May of last year.