Patterson is a force wherever he races, having won black-type races from Pukekohe to Trentham to Riccarton and plenty of places in between in the last six weeks.
“If we race here I reckon I can win with Shameless Boy (R3, No 3),” said Patterson.
“He has had two trials for two wins and he will be hard to beat.”
For all that trial form, Shameless Boy finds himself in a strong maiden field, up against a debutante runner-up in Bella Voce from the Walker/Bergerson barn, an Allan Sharrock-trained trial winner called Boy and a former Karaka yearling sales standout in Northeasterly.
So the race should be a great form maiden reference in future if the New Plymouth meeting goes ahead.
“I reckon our other good chance is Times Up (R4, No 1) because he beat Puntura at the trials two weeks ago before Puntura went on to win at Trentham.”
Safely through today, Patterson will head north again and as is typical of a horse trainer and/or farmer, he wants rain but on his own terms.
He doesn’t want it for his first stop at Taupō tomorrow when smart mare Nom De Plume steps up to 2000m in the Harcourts Taupo Cup.
“She would prefer it dry but she will love the 2000m,” explains Patterson.
“I think eventually she will be best at 2400m but for one reason or another we haven’t been able to get her out to that distance very often.
“She can win on Saturday and I have no issues with her on the Taupō track because she ran second in a race at Doomben in the winter, which is tighter than Taupō.
“She will need the speed on though. If they go hard I think she gets her chance.”
It is after Taupō that Patterson hopes the rain starts, as his biggest assignment of the long weekend is Mary Louise in the $220,000 Queen Elizabeth Cup at Pukekohe on Monday.
She is thrown into the race because while she is the second-best-performed horse in the 2400m feature, she still only has to carry 53kg because Auckland Cup winner Platinum Invador is such a clear topweight.
That means Mary Louise, who is an 87 rated mare, is carrying the same weight as horses 24 rating points below her.
“It works out perfectly like that but she needs rain,” says Patterson.
“She loomed up in the Waikato Cup but was one-paced when they sprinted so if she gets the rain to slow them down a few seconds she will get her chance.”
Meanwhile, Patterson will aim both Puntura and Old Bold Cat at the Thorndon Mile at Trentham on January 20, with the race qualifying One Bold Cat to chase the new $500,000 Summer Bonus first prize as he is also being aimed at the latter legs, the Herbie Dyke Stakes and Bonecrusher NZ Stakes.
