Super Strike winning at Ellerslie in October. Photo / Race Images
Trainer Richard Collett looks ready to supercharge his summer at Ellerslie tomorrow night and punters might be wise to join in.
Collett takes two Supers, Super Pursuit (R2, No3) and Super Strike (R4, No9) to the twilight fixture which is set to draw a party crowd to Ellerslie for the 4.15pm start.
Often the racing has been secondary to the social occasion of the annual meeting but the ARC has added depth to the programme so plenty of those in tomorrow night's six races will be back for the premier meetings on Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
Two will be the Collett stablemates, who have shown explosive finishes in their short careers.
Super Pursuit kicks off the night in a strong Rating 74 and a qualifier for the $80,000 Stella Artois Final on Boxing Day for the north's more progressive 1500m horses.
Super Pursuit was impressive winning his maiden and again at his next start before closing hard late behind class animals Familia and Packing Rockstar at Ellerslie's Melbourne Cup day meeting.
"We put him aside after that with this Stella Artois series in mind and he is very well for this week," says Collett.
"We have always thought a bit of him and he just got a bit unbalanced when in tight quarters last start but he ran home [600m] in 33.4 seconds so he has plenty of ability.
"It is a decent field but he will be hard to beat."
Super Strike meets a stronger field in race four but gets in on 54kg and probably should have won last start.
"He had the blinkers on last start at Counties so we let him find his feet early and he probably just got a little bit too far back," says Collett.
"But he flew home and Andrew [Calder, jockey] believes the horse thought he had won because he couldn't see the other horse.
"I actually think he is a miler and his main aim might be the Rich Hill Mile on New Year's Day but I think the 1400m will still suit this week, with the small field maybe helping him.
"And we have replaced the blinkers with side visors so he can see what he is chasing."
A genuine tempo would also help Super Strike, who at 540kg is one of the bigger racehorses in the north.
The most interesting runner in that race and at the meeting is Sacred Elixir, the former star juvenile having his first start in three years.
A rare New Zealand-trained Group 1 winning juvenile in Queensland 4-years ago, Sacred Elixir finished second on the VRC Derby before ending up in Hong Kong where he suffered a tendon injury.
After a long break and painstaking rehab, he returns carrying 62kg and trainer Tony Pike says the grand old man is not a betting proposition. "Three years away from racing is a long, long time so if he is running on well and beats a couple home we will be happy," he says.
High-class nine-year-old Julius will present in excellent order in Saturday's Group 3 J Swap Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa where he will shoulder 60.5kg. The injury-plagued sprinter is following a similar path to last year, where he finished fourth in the Listed Counties Bowl (1100m) before going on to win the J Swap Sprint followed by the Group 1 Railway (1200m).
"He is very well and has worked up quite superbly," trainer John Bell said. "Last year he ran fourth at Counties, then he won this and went on to Group 1 glory in the Railway. I think that if he can run in the first few, it would be just perfect as a lead-in to his main aim which is the Railway."
After finishing fourth behind rising star Levante in the Counties Bowl last start, the stars look to be aligning for the powerfully built galloper, who has drawn well in barrier 3 for Saturday's assignment.
Inferno has been ruled out of Sunday's Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint (1200m). The son of Holy Roman Emperor, who was one of three overseas runners in the Group 1 feature, failed the vet check on Tuesday when he was found to be lame in his left front leg.
A graduate of Westbury Stud's 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 draft, Inferno has been in red-hot form in Singapore, winning his last four starts including the Lion City Cup (1200m) and Singapore Guineas (1600m).
"It's unfortunate that Singapore looks like they've got such a nice horse and it would have been great to see him compete against our horses here, but there's no use competing if you're not right — it's an unfair fight," said jockey Zac Purton who was booked to ride Inferno.