Horse racing: Sharp ’N’ Smart will win because he’s ‘best in country’

Sharp ’N’ Smart (right) takes on the $400,000 Tarzino Trophy at the Hawke’s Bay spring carnival tomorrow.

Trainer Graeme Rogerson says there is an obvious reason Sharp ‘N’ Smart should win tomorrow’s $400,000 Tarzino Trophy at the Hawke’s Bay spring carnival.

“Because he is the best horse in the country,” said the Hall of Fame trainer.

Punters may be used to Rogerson making huge statements but they are backed up by equally huge career numbers and in Sharp ‘N’ Smart he may have found a horse who can live up to the hype.

Big, strong and proven in Australia and at Group 1 weight-for-age level here as a three-year-old, Sharp ‘N’ Smart would seem to be racing short of his best distance over 1400m against one of the hottest fields of the past decade at Hastings tomorrow.

Rogerson, who trains in partnership with wife Debbie, says it may not matter.

“He can do anything,” he told the Herald yesterday.

“If Michael [McNab, jockey] wants him to settle handier he can and if he does that he has to be the one to beat.

“If he gets the chance to wind up at the top of the straight I think he will win. I am sure he is the best horse in the country.”

That last statement may be aided by the fact another three-time Group1 winner last season in Imperatriz isn’t in the country. She is in Melbourne for her seasonal debut at The Valley tomorrow.

That pair and a couple of tomorrow’s Tarzino protagonists in Legarto and Pennyweka don’t just compete on the track this weekend but at the ballot box as they are all contenders for awards and even the biggest prize at the Horse of the Year in Auckland on Sunday.

For all Rogerson’s enthusiasm there is a reason Sharp ‘N’ Smart is $7 with the bookies for tomorrow.

Nobody doubts how good he is and his recent track work suggests he has added muscle to his imposing frame but he is a rolling beast of a horse, more luxury liner than speedboat.

Plenty of middle-distance weight-for-age horses can sprint sensationally when fresh but Sharp ‘N’ Smart has won only once over 1400m or shorter and that was only narrowly in a moderate field at Ruakākā this weekend last year.

He can hit a flat spot on the home bend in his races, a trait sometimes shared by tomorrow’s favourite Legarto, and if any of them do that then speedsters such as La Crique, Pier, Skew Wiff and more likely a rock-hard fit Dragon Leap may change gears faster than them and potentially get a winning break.

The Rogersons have a younger carbon copy of Sharp ‘N’ Smart in Solidify in the El Roca Trophy tomorrow and he was enormous winning from a seemingly hopeless position at Taupō last start.

He might find 1200m second-up short enough tomorrow and has a wide draw but he galloped strongly in company with Sharp ‘N’ Smart on Tuesday.

“We think he is very good but he will be even better over more distance,” Rogerson said.

“We are taking him there to win but it will also fit him for the Hawke’s Bay Guineas after which he’ll go to the Sarten [Te Rapa] then to Riccarton for the big one [2000 Guineas].”