Trainer Nigel Tiley likes everything about how the $90,000 Eagle Stakes is stacking up for stable star Demonetization, apart from the fact he can't be there to saddle him.
While most people have their frustrating Covid stories to tell, for Tiley and wife Lee the closure of the New Zealand borders in winter cut short their new lifestyle, which was based around winters in Queensland before returning to train a small team in summer.
"We ended up getting the last non-quarantine flight out of Brisbane in July," says Tiley.
"So things didn't really work out how we wanted but we are still not going to be taking on a bigger stable like we used to have. We have six horses here and it won't get a lot bigger than that."
Tiley says there are some small mercies as he would hate to have as large a team as he had racing last year and be forced to send horses to other trainers to look after on raceday, as he will when Demoneti-zation headlines a three-strong stable representation at the Te Aroha meeting.
"We are lucky we have Scott Wenn looking after them for us and we know they are in good hands but I like going to the races with my horses to see all the little things during the day," says Tiley.