Horse racing: Clouds on horizon as talented gallopers look to kick off

Myakkabelle showed plenty of class last season but is fresh-up at Hāwera tomorrow. Photo / Kenton Wright

When it comes to spring starting points for good horses, there is ready – and then there is bog-track ready.

The latter is what father-and-son training team Ben and Ryan Foote will be trying to avoid at two different venues tomorrow.

They have horses in the black-type races at both thoroughbred venues as part of a seven-strong team but like many trainers, they will be making their final decisions about who actually starts on Saturday morning.

Both the Matamata and Hāwera tracks had improved into the Soft range on Thursday afternoon but trainers were being cautious as more rain was forecast – and while some horses will relish that, those who are fresh-up for the new season probably won’t.

“We have got a big team in for the weekend for us, with seven down to start on Saturday,” Ryan Foote said.

“But we would be reluctant to start some of them if the tracks became a bog. I don’t think many trainers want their horses to be starting on a deep track fresh-up.”

The Footes have two mares in the $100,000 Grangewilliam Stud Breeders at Hāwera and rate mutiple black-type place-getter Myakkabelle (Race 6, No 11) their best chance of the whole weekend, but only if the track doesn’t get too heavy.

“Both her and Charmer can go well but Myakkabelle is a class mare, which she showed last season,” Foote said.

“She has had two trials and really come on since the second one, so she can be a real threat, but she will only be going down if we think the track won’t be too deep.”

The Foote pair are set to meet some smart mares, headed by Marotiri Molly, Hi Yo Sass Bom, Midnight Special and Mary Shan, all of whom are better suited by the weight-for-age scale and have had at least one run this spring, so should have a fitness edge.

Of that quartet, Mary Shan might tick the most boxes for punters but those track conditions could be the deciding factor.

The Footes have smart stayer The Odyssey (R7, No 4) in the Team Wealleans Matamata Cup and the race looks a good starting point for what will ultimately be a Cups campaign.

“He is better over longer trips but 1600m on a wet track might bring him into it [be]cause it will put more emphasis on stamina,” Foote said.

“But that could also be the problem. We don’t want it too heavy, I don’t think many trainers do for their horse’s first run back.”

The Matamata Cup has brought together an interesting mix of milers, stayers getting ready for longer targets, winter performers and those hoping the rain stays away.

The best advice for punters is wait until Saturday morning before making your decisions.

Because that is what many of the trainers will be doing.

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.