Racing
Wairarapa gallopers will be conspicuous by their absence at tomorrow's meetings after local trainers concentrated on yesterday's Hawke's Bay meeting.
The district will be represented by only two runners at Riccarton Park on the last day of the Canterbury Racing Club's winter meeting.
They are the old veteran Kalgoorlie Bomber from Frank Stammers' Tauherenikau stable and Elusive Tracy, also stabled at Tauherenikau and prepared by Aaron Bidlake.
Kalgoorlie Bomber is entered in race 3, a rating 75 over 1400m and being run for a tidy $25,000 stake.
Okay, so the old boy has turned 12 and has been out of the money over a string of starts but his owners Colin Stevenson and Stammers are reluctant to turn him out to grass, as I am reluctant to write off his chances here.
The reason is that he has surprised in the past, won his biggest race at this carnival last year and plugged away reasonably on the first day.
He wound up eighth in the 13-horse field and on the heavy 11 going was only nine lengths from the winner Our Gazza.
On paper his chances of winning tomorrow don't look bright but Percy the Place Punter will be putting $20 on his tail in the hope of picking up a good return.
Lisa Whelan will be reunited with the gelding and will be able to get only 1kg off his back, but it all helps.
Elusive Tracy in race 5 may be a better proposition for punters.
The mare has been knocking at the door in her last two outings, chalking up a fourth placing at Tauranga on a heavily rain affected surface and a fifth a month later in the wet at New Plymouth.
Bidlake has picked up a couple of place cheques at the winter meeting with Eric the Viking and Bidlake was tossing up whether to start Elusive Tracy at Hastings yesterday or bring her south for a crack at this one.
He opted for Riccarton, a decision no doubt prompted by the much larger stake money on offer and the fact the mare put in some beautiful work on the track before her departure.
She has earned over $100,000 so owes her owner Barry Southey nothing but picking up the lion's share here, $23,125, would be the icing on the cake.
Wairarapa is not represented in the feature jumping race, the Grand National Steeples, which has long been one of the country's most prized event for jumpers. The steeples has drawn a field of only nine acceptors but promises to be a keenly-contested event with Cambridge jumper Karlos, Kidunot, Snodroptwinkletoes and Brushman expected to lead the chase. Of that lot it is hard to look beyond Snodroptwinkletoes, who may only have won maiden steeples but is from the hugely successful Kevin Myers stable and has arguably the best jumps rider in the country on his back, Jo Rathbone.