Horse racing: Kiwis opt for Victoria bases

Prowess trounces her rivals in the Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) under Mark Zahra FREE FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY Photo: Bradley Photography NZH 26Mar23 - Prowess trounced her rivals yesterday. Photo / Bradley Photography

New South Wales may be winning its thoroughbred stakes war against Victoria but Victoria seems to be winning the battle to attract New Zealand’s glamour gallopers.

The stakes money war between the two Australian powerhouses seems to have been won, as New South Wales seems to announce a stake increase or new million-dollar race almost every month, whereas Racing Victoria has just announced a small decrease in overall stakes.

But when it comes to luring New Zealand’s elite gallopers for this spring, Melbourne looks the winner.

Team Rogerson has already declared three-time Group 1 winner Sharp ‘N’ Smart is being primarily aimed at the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, with a Cox Plate nomination thrown in for good luck, although he may have a lead-up race in Sydney.

The connections of Legarto are, at this early stage, leaning more towards Melbourne and even more specifically Flemington, where she won the Australian Guineas, although they haven’t ruled out popping up to Sydney for the Golden Eagle.

Cambridge trainer Andrew Forsman has a 10-horse barn in Victoria and our biggest training operation, Te Akau, will have horses permanently based at Cranbourne from the start of spring.

Now co-trainer Roger James has added more high-end firepower to the Kiwi assault on Victoria by confirming that is almost certainly where Prowess will be heading in the spring.

The Karaka Mile, Bonecrusher NZ Stakes and Vinery Stakes winner has multiple potential targets in Melbourne, the most grandiose being the Cox Plate.

“That would be the ideal aim if, and of course it is an if, she comes up perfectly,” says James, who trains Prowess with Robert Wellwood.

“We all know things can change but we are definitely looking at Melbourne more than Sydney.

“While the stake for the Golden Eagle is fantastic, we think her best distance is 2000m and the 1500m around Rosehill might end up being a little sharp for her.

“We don’t want her to have a really long spring, we are thinking three or four starts, and if all progressed well, that would culminate in a Cox Plate.

“If that doesn’t work out, we have the option of the Mackinnon [now known as the Champions Stakes], or if she is not right up to that level this time in, we could aim at the Matriarch, also at Flemington.”

James says Prowess didn’t put on as much weight as he initially would have liked early in her six-week spell but started to fill out over the final fortnight of her break and has continued to strengthen since rejoining the stable.

“They go through stages, and now she is back in the stable environment, but not working too hard, she is coming along really nicely.”

Three weeks of work puts Prowess another three weeks away from being asked to open her lungs up a bit more and then James and the owners will start to firm up their plans for the big daughter of Proisir once weather and likely track conditions become better known.

New Zealand’s best gallopers bypassing Sydney would hardly have raised an eyebrow for much of the past five years but the glamour Kiwi 4-year-olds plus potentially William Reid winner Imperatriz and Aegon racing in Victoria adds some X-factor and plenty of eyeballs to the Victorian carnival.

Meanwhile, James and Wellwood expect an improved run from the talented but erratic Urban Myth (R7, No6) at Cambridge today when they step him up to 2000m in an effort to get him to settle better.