NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Racing

Racing: One key difference could be costly for The Mitigator in Eagle Technology Stakes

By Michael Guerin
NZ Herald·
26 Nov, 2020 07:20 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The Mitigator (left) wins the Eagle last year. Photo / Trish Dunell

The Mitigator (left) wins the Eagle last year. Photo / Trish Dunell

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Mitigator's assault on the Eagle Technology Stakes looks remarkably similar to last year, but with one potentially costly difference — the weather.

The Mitigator is the favourite to defend the Group 3 title he won last season and the race stacks up almost exactly the same. Last season The Mitigator drew the same barrier four, was able to jump and lead and hold off Beauden — who he races on Saturday — in one of the fastest miles recorded in New Zealand in recent seasons.

It set him up for a superb summer in which he won the Group 1 Thorndon and almost doubled up in the BCD Sprint at Te Rapa, taking some Te Akau Shark brilliance late to undo him.

After a Hastings campaign where nothing went right to start the spring, trainer Peter McKay gave his stable star a week off and started again, and he was back in winning form at Awapuni two weeks ago.

Much of the race and lead-in form matches last season — except for the weather.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Mitigator was able to gallop such a quick time last season because Ellerslie was perfect whereas after heavy downpours on Wednesday annoying showers hung around Auckland on Thursday.

The warm weather will help to dry the track so there are no panic stations yet but punters might be best advised to wait until Saturday morning to bet.

"I am hoping the showers go because he really is a duffer on wet tracks," explains McKay. "He has such a long stride and gets down really low when he gallops and a few of the jockeys have told me you can feel he doesn't let go in the wet.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"So I am hoping the track comes up well because the race looks ideal."

The Mitigator is also using Saturday's race to get ready for the Captain Cook at Trentham next Saturday as McKay says the big-money miles are his prime target.

"The mile is really his go, I have extended him out to 2000m a few times and he doesn't get it."

If The Mitigator gets that firm track and can jump and roll, it will take a good horse to run him down.

Discover more

Racing

Trainer looking forward after NZ Cup mess

26 Nov 07:20 AM
Racing

Trainer's choice no deterrent ahead of $70,000 Wellington Stakes

25 Nov 07:10 AM
Racing

Racing: New Cambridge track proves popular

23 Nov 07:09 AM
Racing

Racing: Opie Bosson is back and it's beautiful

23 Nov 06:48 AM

There is good depth to the field though with Beauden good enough to win a major race in the near future, while horses like Tiptronic, Demonetization and Charles Road have already done so.

But 2000m might be the more preferred distance for Beauden, Tiptronic, Charles Road and the luckless last-start favourite Vadavar.

So while any of them could win without surprising, Demonetization may be the best suited to the race and track conditions, and looms as the each-way danger to The Mitigator while Gino Severini looks set to track the leader and should get his chance from the ace.

While there are plenty of established stars in the main race, the Trevor Eagle Memorial a race before is a glimpse into the future, with an array of potential Derby and Oaks horses as trainers start to ask more of the 3-year-olds who weren't deemed forward enough for the Guineas races at Riccarton.

There are nine horses who have won in their last two starts but Tellall has hit the lines very hard in all three starts, two of them victorious, and deserves favouritism.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Racing

Racing

'Thrives on wet tracks': Belardo Boy claims 11th career win

08 Jul 04:59 PM
Racing

Purdon sticks with driver despite Inter Dominion stuff-up

07 Jul 05:00 PM
Racing

Mick On Monday: Pike pair could be two new stars of the saddle

06 Jul 06:13 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Racing

'Thrives on wet tracks': Belardo Boy claims 11th career win

'Thrives on wet tracks': Belardo Boy claims 11th career win

08 Jul 04:59 PM

Trainer Lisa Latta plans to target weight-for-age races in early spring.

Purdon sticks with driver despite Inter Dominion stuff-up

Purdon sticks with driver despite Inter Dominion stuff-up

07 Jul 05:00 PM
Mick On Monday: Pike pair could be two new stars of the saddle

Mick On Monday: Pike pair could be two new stars of the saddle

06 Jul 06:13 PM
Brosnan stable stars with jumping double at waterlogged Te Rapa

Brosnan stable stars with jumping double at waterlogged Te Rapa

05 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP