That's Gold and Samantha Collett slayed their rivals in the Eagle Technology Avondale Guineas. Photo / Kenton Wright
Rarely has a Derby lead-up gone so well.
And while trainer Chris Wood realises that doesn’t guarantee That’s Gold success in Saturday’s $1.25 million HKJC World Pool New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie on Saturday, the gelding sure has a lot in his favour.
While so much of the chat about Champions Day has been around Well Written and the NZB Kiwi, the Derby has been one of our most consistent producers of outstanding horses for decades, challenged only lately by the Karaka Millions Three-Year-Old or the 2000 Guineas.
This Derby is now a race that That’s Gold deserves to be favourite for – even though he isn’t.
While it has only been 12 days since That’s Gold won the Avondale Guineas, everything that could go right for him has.
Firstly, the stunning New Zealand Oaks winner Ohope Wins was ruled out of the Derby as she was sent to Sydney by new owners Yulong to try to win a Group 1 there.
Then Yulong came to Wood and his owners with an offer they couldn’t refuse and purchased That’s Gold, which could be seen as a blessing or a curse – but the reality is that everybody involved in the horse got well paid.
“There is the sense of achievement of having done so well with a horse and being able to sell it for what is a lot of money,” Wood said.
“And there is also the disappointment of knowing this will be his last race for us.
“But it was simply too much money to turn down and you have to be realistic about that.”
With his most dangerous rival gone and a seven-figure sum already banked, That’s Gold is ticking all the boxes and has done nothing but please Wood in the crucial last week.
“He is spot-on, I couldn’t be happier,” he said.
But the Racing Gods weren’t finished with That’s Gold because once the Derby draws came out, guess what, Wood was even happier.
Not only did That’s Gold draw barrier 4, but the other two favourites, Autumn Glory (barrier 15) and Road To Paris (13), drew wide, as did their stablemate Ariadne at barrier 14.
So while that trio from the Roger James/Robert Wellwood stablemates now face needing tempo and racing luck, That’s Gold should be in the first six, with jockey Samantha Collett able to choose when she tries to putting a winning break on her rivals.
That is exactly what Collett and That’s Gold did in the Avondale Guineas and it is hard to see any more early or mid-race tempo in Saturday’s Derby, especially stepping up to 2400m.
A muddling to moderate Derby tempo would suit That’s Gold not only because of his draw advantage but on his breeding as he is by the Yulong-owned stallion Lucky Vega out of a Sebring mare and has very little staying form close-up in his family tree.
That may be one reason TAB bookies have opened him $6 in the final field market, with several Avondale Guineas winners in the last decade, having found the extra 300m of the Derby too far out of their comfort zone.
But if this isn’t a hard-run Derby then any perceived stamina deficencies in That’s Gold’s breeding, and at the moment those are still very much only doubts on paper, may not matter.
So while Oaks runner-up Autumn Glory opened the final-field favourite at $4.20, it wouldn’t surprise to see That’s Gold close that gap before they jump on Saturday.
While That’s Gold was the big winner in the Derby draw, many of the other favoured runners in Saturday’s black-type races also fared well.
Unbeaten juvenile filly Lara Antipova starts from barrier 5 in the $600,000 Sistema Stakes while Legarto was handed barrier 3 in the $1m Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes, even more helpful as key rival Kingswood has drawn eight of the 10 runners.
Alabama Lass will jump from barrier 5 in the Haunui Farms Kings Plate, with Railway place-getter Sweynesday not so well-off in gate 9, while Tomodachi has firmed into strong outright favouritism for the Al Basti Equiworld Classic, after securing barrier 2.
What: New Zealand’s richest race day with stakes of $8,550,000.
Where: Ellerslie, Auckland.
When: This Saturday.
Who: Many of our best gallopers, headlined by unbeaten filly Well Written, taking on a smattering of Australians.
Highlights: $4m NZB Kiwi, $1.25m HKJC World Pool NZ Derby, $1m Bonecrusher NZ Stakes, $600,000 Trackside Auckland Cup, $600,000 Al Basta Equiworld Dubai Classic, $550,000 Sistema Stakes, $250,000 Haunui Farm Kings Plate.
More info: www.ellerslie.co.nz
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.