“There isn’t anything anybody can do about that second one and at least it was rescheduled to race today [Thursday] but I won’t be going now as I have to get back to the team at home,” he said from Melbourne Airport.
Forsman will line up two talented mares in Hinekaha at Ellerslie and Positivity at The Valley tomorrow and says both would enjoy good tempo in their races.
Hinekaha looked a huge Derby and Oaks chance last campaign until she weakened off at the back of summer, and she has had a frustrating start to this campaign.
“It feels like ages since she last raced [September 20] and like a lot of horses she has had an interrupted spring, so I will just be glad to get her back racing.
“It is only 1400m for her this time and she will ultimately be better over a longer trip so I will tell Gryllsy to let her settle and run home, so a strong tempo would be a big help.”
Hinekaha has the scope to win further black type this summer, especially as she should be competitive between 1600m and even up to 2400m, providing her with a lot of options.
Positivity will be having her third start back this campaign when she meets fellow New Zealand mares Molly Bloom and Movin Out in the Tesio Stakes at The Valley over the 2040m Cox Plate trip.
“I thought she was okay after not having any luck trapped three wide last start,” said Forsman.
“I want to see her go better again and it doesn’t look a bad race for her.”
With her ability to race on the speed, Positivity looks over the odds, especially at her $8 place quote.
Forsman will head to Te Rapa on Monday for one of the deciding days of the spring for three-year-olds.
The meeting has a “moving day” feel to it, as many of the three-year-olds at the head of the market for the 2000 Guineas meet in the $150,000 Sarten Memorial, or in the case of one-time Guineas favourite Hostility, he will start in a maiden 1300m.
Forsman has the highly promising Quondo in the Sarten, as well as debuntante winner Virgo Viva having an early-career shot at some black type.
“It looks like they could get some rain before Monday and some give in the track wouldn’t hurt Quondo.
“He was very good last start and while he still has some maturing to do, we will know a lot more about his Guineas chances after Monday.”
That will be the case for many of the Sarten contenders, as a rollercoaster spring of weather and track conditions has left Monday’s race as the definitive 2000 Guineas lead-up.
The Guineas contenders, both for the 1000 and the 2000, already in the South Island get the chance to embellish their claims in the $100,000 War Decree Stakes at Riccarton tomorrow, with the Te Akau pair War Of Silence and Origin Of Love dominating the market.
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.
