Horse racing: Cheaperthandivorce returns to the scene of her greatest triumph

Cheaperthandivorce winning Waikato Cup last year.

Waikato Cup heroine Cheaperthan-divorce returns to the scene of her greatest triumph on Saturday with a different target.

The lightly-raced mare won last season’s Cup just four starts ago, having spent much of the time since in the paddock, as senior co-trainer Roger James was adamant time would be her friend.

That length of spell and a

wet spring has put Cheaperthan-divorce on the back hoof fitness-wise, and that, coupled with her 94 rating, means she will start in Saturday’s Stakes feature for the mares over 1600m rather than defending her Waikato Cup title.

“She isn’t the easiest mare to train but she is worth it because she has so much talent,” says James.

“She raced so well in the Cups last season and we hoped a long spell might see her fill out more but she is still quite a light mare, so that might just be her.

“She has had quite a light spring, like a lot of ours because of the wet tracks, so we are using this race as the lead-up to the Zabeel Classic on Boxing Day.”

That gives Cheaperthan-divorce her shot at crucial Group1 black type for owners and breeders Trelawney.

While Cheaperthandivorce can obviously extend out to 2400m, she is still no slouch at Saturday’s mile trip, as she showed winning the Thompson Handicap at Group 3 last season.

She does face a serious black type miler mare on Saturday, though, in Sinarahma, who will be the favourite after the fields are finalised this morning courtesy of her booming last-start second to Prise De Fer at Te Rapa two weeks ago.

While James and training partner Robert Wellwood won’t have Cheaperthandivorce in the Cup on Saturday, they can still win it with Dionysus, who cruised to victory in the Bulls Cup at Awapuni last start.

He has looked a major Cup winner in waiting since taking out the Dunstan Stayers Final last New Year’s Day and James believes he gets into Saturday’s $120,000 staying test with the perfect weight.

“I’ve won a lot of good Cup races over the years by getting these horses in at the right weights,” he says. “In England, placing your horses like that is almost an art form, so we are very conscious of it. So without diving into his opposition too much, I think he should be hard to beat.”

This meeting last season provided the James/Wellwood stable with its greatest day so far when they trained Two Illicit to win the transferred Captain Cook Stakes (Group 1), Cheaperthan-divorce in the Cup and the now-retired Concert Hall won the Stakes feature.

They have had a much quieter spring this year, with James, like many rivals, bemoaning the almost weekly diet of wet tracks.

“It has been very frustrating and it feels like we really haven’t got started yet but it looks like we will have a good track this week and we have the horses to start winning races if those sort of tracks become more common.”

A good track at Te Rapa could see a betting bonanza, as the club has attracted strong nominations for the black type races, while champion jockey Opie Bosson returns from a seven-week suspension with seven rides.