Well Written smashed her rivals in the NZ 1000 Guineas at Riccarton last month. Photo / Ajay Berry
Summer plans for unbeaten filly Well Written are all but confirmed and they won’t please the trainers of rival 3-year-olds being aimed at the $1.5 million Karaka Millions.
Because after originally suggesting he would let his NZ 1000 Guineas winner miss the January 24 race, trainer Stephen Marsh says it is now back on the radar for the glamour girl.
And Marsh says Well Written basically forced him to change his mind.
The flying filly is back in work and Marsh says she is doing so well she needs to be in full training rather than just ticking over.
“She is doing so well if we don’t keep her working and using her energy she could do something silly,” Marsh told the Herald.
“She had two weeks off after she came home from Christchurch and as we told everybody we will originally looking at missing the Karaka Millions because I didn’t think I could get a lead-up race into her to have he ready enough for 1600m.
“But she is doing so well and if she gallops as well as we hope tomorrow morning [Tuesday] I think she will be ready to race at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.”
That race will be the $270,000 Jimmy Schick Shaw’s Auckland Guineas over 1400m in which Well Written could potentially take in 2000 Guineas runner-up Affirmative Action.
“That has become our most likely kick-off point and if she starts there then I think she will only need an exhibition gallop somewhere in January to be ready for the Karaka Millions.”
Marsh says that would then give him six weeks to freshen Well Written for her major summer aim, the $4m NZB Kiwi at Ellerslie on March, for which an announcement on whose slot she will race in could come in the next 24 hours.
Marsh’s change of plans won’t exactly thrill rival trainers who were licking their lips at the prospect of her not being in the Karaka Millions, in which her male rivals will have to concede her 2kg.
Well Written is $1.90 in the TAB futures market to win the Karaka Millions and $2.30 to win the NZB Kiwi.
Well Written’s likely appearance at Ellerslie on Boxing Day will add further glamour to a stunning launch of a crazy busy few months at the home of racing with the $500,000 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic shaping as one of the races of the summer.
All of the big names who contested the TAB Mufhasa Classic on Saturday who were in contention for the Zabeel are likely to head that way and waiting for them will be El Vencedor and Qali Al Farrasha.
Mufhasa winner Provence was never heading that way as she will stick to shorter trips and be aimed at the $600,000 Ōtaki Māori Classic at Ellerslie on February 21 followed by the $600,000 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Classic, the new 1400m fillies and mares race on Champions Day at Ellerslie on March 7.
But the other big-name weight-for-age horses from the Mufhasa are all Zabeel Classic-bound.
Co-trainer Lance O’Sullivan confirmed runner-up Waitak travelled home well from Trentham and could be even better back up to 2000m for the Zabeel, while third-placed La Crique looks certain to return to Ellerslie to try and snap her streak of seven Group 1 placings in a row.
Co-trainer Ken Kelso says he was happy enough with Legarto’s fourth in the Mufhasa and expects her to be more advanced when she heads to the Zabeel.
Reigning horse of the year El Vencedor, yet another star trained by Marsh, will be ready and waiting for that bunch when they get to the Zabeel, with Marsh suggesting he may give the big horse an exhibition gallop at Te Rapa on December 20 before to keep him up to the mark.
Also heading to Te Rapa but a week earlier is Qali Al Farrasha, who will race there this Saturday in the $175,000 Cal Isuzu Stakes over 1600m before stepping back up to 2000m for the Zabeel.
But her stablemate Quintessa, who was in the Zabeel market as a $15 chance, has had a short freshen up and won’t be seen over the holiday period, instead being aimed at the BCD Sprint at Te Rapa in February.
Thursday: Twilight meeting, huge after party.
Dec 26: Boxing Day meeting, three black type races and two series finals headlined by $500,000 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic.
Jan 1: New Year’s Day, four black type races.
Jan 11: Sunday pre-Karaka Millions meeting, one black type race.
Jan 24: TAB Karaka Millions, five black type races including Sistema Railway and Karaka Millions for 2 and 3-year-olds plus $1m Aoteoroa Classic.
Feb 21: NZ Oaks meeting, five black type races including Oaks, Ōtaki Māori Classic, Avondale Cup and Avondale Guineas.
March 7: Champions Day, seven black type races including NZB Kiwi, Trackside NZ Derby, Bonecrusher Stakes, Auckland Cup and Dubai Equiworld Classic (fillies and mares).
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.