Horse racing: Field finalised for New Zealand’s richest-ever race – Mick On Monday

Lollapalooza has been one of our most consistent 3-year-olds this season. Photo / Kenton Wright

Trainer Graham Richardson says there is an unwanted bonus to taking on superstar filly Well Written in New Zealand’s richest-ever horse race this Saturday.

“Well, there is absolutely no pressure on us,” Richardson, who lines up Lollapalooza in the $4 million NZB Kiwi at Ellerslie, said.

The slot race will be the centrepiece of Champions Day but the build-up is more subdued than last year for a simple reason beyond anybody’s control: almost everybody thinks Well Written is going to justify her $1.20 favouritism.

The unbeaten filly hasn’t been seen in public since she gapped many of Saturday’s rivals in the $1.5m Karaka Million Three-Year-Old on January 24 but will spin her wheels on the course proper at Ellerslie around 7.30am on Monday.

Only a dreadful barrier at Tuesday’s night draw is likely to see much movement in Well Written’s price, especially with the form of her local rivals relatively easy to line up against the flying filly.

The two final confirmed runner for the NZB Kiwi will be To Bravery Born, who will give trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson four reps in the 1500m race, and Convinced, who will take the Waikato Stud slot.

While Convinced will start at long odds, she gives trainer Kris Shailer a remarkable one-two punch, having a Kiwi starter and Justin Case in the Group 1 Sistema Stakes – not bad for a trainer with only three racehorses in work.

Shailer, who does the pre-training for Waikato Stud, will find himself in the same position as many other trainers in the NZB Kiwi; all care but without the pressure of expectation because of Well Written’s market dominance.

Richardson, who trains in partnership with Rogan Norvall, says he doesn’t mind going in as the underdog.

“It is a funny feeling heading to a race this big but with all the attention being on the other filly,” he told the Herald.

“We aren’t feeling any pressure at all.

“There is the normal pressure we put on ourselves to make sure the filly is well and gets home safe but no pressure about the result.”

Lollapalooza may not have won a race since the Gold Trail at Ellerslie back on September 6 but she has been consistently good at the highest level, even splitting Well Written and Belle Cheval when second in the New Zealand 1000 Guineas in November.

“We are really happy with her and I am confident she is better than last start,” Richardson said of Lollapalooza’s seventh in the KM3.

Lollapalooza has a new jockey for Saturday’s slot race in Michael McNab, who only resumed riding a fortnight ago after an injury that robbed him on his summer in the saddle.

The trainers of all the Kiwi runners reported they were happy with their 3-year-olds starting the big week and with the final 14 now known, the next step will be to select the emergencies, who will be drawn from the Kiwi-eligible entries for the $100,000 Windsor Park Stud Trophy also on Saturday’s card.

The barrier draw will be staged on Tuesday night at Karaka and be shown live on Trackside (Sky Ch62) from 7pm.

NZB Kiwi expected field

Ellerslie on Saturday

$4 million plus bonuses, 3-year-olds, 1500m.

• Well Written, jockey Matt Cartwright
• Asakua, Dean Yendall
• Affirmative Action, George Rooke
• Romanoff, to be confirmed
• He Who Dares, Opie Bosson
• La Dorada, Ben Thompson
• Belle Cheval, Mick Dee
• To Bravery Born, Rory Hutchings
• Convinced, Samantha Collett
• Lollapalooza, Michael McNab
• Zivou, Warren Kennedy
• War Princess, Wiremu Pinn
• Panther, Craig Grylls
• L’Aigle Noir, Joe Doyle

Emergencies to be announced on Tuesday.

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.