Babylon Berlin tests speed at Trentham before Queensland campaign

Trainer Allan Sharrock rates Islington Lass the best of his three chances in the Rangitikei Cup. Photo / File

• Trentham’s jumps races were moved due to unseasonably dry conditions affecting the track.
• Allan Sharrock rates Islington Lass as his top contender in the $80,000 Rangitikei Cup.
• Babylon Berlin is set to trial for a Queensland campaign in Race 2 at Trentham.

The reason there is no jumps racing at Trentham today is the same reason trainer Allan Sharrock thinks Islington Lass will win the Rangitikei Cup.

Sharrock has three of the big names in the $80,000 listed race, headed by winter warrior Justaskme then the mares Sumi and Islington Lass.

Trentham in May is usually no place for the faint-hearted as it can often produce a Heavy 10 track but it has been so unseasonally dry in the capital that the Manawatu Steeplechase and Hurdles, due to have been run today, were transferred to Hawera tomorrow.

While the course proper is rated a Soft 7, which would have been fine for jumps racing, Trentham’s steeplechase course is a figure-8 which goes through the middle of the track.

That rarely used section gets drier than the main track because it is never irrigated, so New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing made the call to move the jumps races for safety and horse comfort.

The same dry weather is the reason Sharrock, one of the kings of winter racing, rates Islington Lass the best of his trio in today’s feature.

“On a wet track, Justaskme would have been very hard to beat but his main aim is the weight-for-age races at Wanganui in two weeks,” Sharrock said.

“There isn’t much between the two mares but on the soft track I rate Islington Lass our best chance.”

The $3 shot is by no means a good thing as there is depth to the field, including northern visitors Channel Surfer and Kind Thoughts, who may be unproven at this level but get a huge weight advantage.

Earlier in the meeting Sharrock suggests punters should be on Dresse’ Par Joli, the well-bred daughter of former Matamata Cup winner Cote D’Or who has a lot going for her in Race 4.

An early highlight on the Trentham programme will be one of New Zealand’s fastest horses, Babylon Berlin, surprisingly turning up in Race 2.

She is using the race as a trial for a potential Queensland campaign and, while she has been given 62kg by the handicapper, apprentice jockey Ace Lawson-Carroll trims 2kg off that.

The only other time Babylon Berlin has been to Trentham, she pushed Levante to a neck in the Group 1 Telegraph so at $1.65 she will be many people’s multi anchor for the day.

Further north, Te Rapa has a strong mix of autumn gallopers looking for one more opportunity before heading to the paddock and winter horses warming up for the slogs ahead.

The Waikato track was rated a Heavy 8 yesterday and what it settles on today will be crucial not only because it could determine who can win but even who starts in some races.

One horse guaranteed to be hard to beat regardless is Turn The Ace (R5, No 3).

He has won on all track conditions but most importantly four times on a heavy surface, loves Te Rapa, can race handy to the speed and gets Opie Bosson today so ticks a lot of boxes.

Another who will appreciate the wet and has a class edge on his rivals is Solidify (R6, No 2) who has been strong enough to the line in recent races to suggest he will handle the 2100m and he could start close to even money.

On the other side of the Tasman, one of New Zealand’s favourite horses, I Wish I Win, is the $2 favourite for the Doomben 10,000 as ex-pat superstar jockey James McDonald continues his surge toward 100 Group 1 wins.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.