COMMENT
A horse who has not raced for nearly five months and has been operated on during that absence would not generally leap out of the page as the day's best bet.
Swallow (No 1, R9) could defy those odds at Rotorua today.
Five wins and close to $100,000 in stakemoney suggest a
pretty good horse.
But Swallow is even better than that.
She was found to have a knee chip after scoring stylish back-to-back wins in the early summer and underwent an operation.
A recent barrier trial win left little doubt that that is no longer a problem and Swallow can apply her excellent fresh-up record to today's $40,000 Rotorua Stakes.
For a small, turning track, Rotorua generally lends itself to swoopers.
Swallow, a back runner, has a terrific record on the track for two wins and two placings from five starts.
Elegant Emerald (No 6) is the obvious one to beat. Her seventh in the Travis Stakes at Te Rapa was much better than some think.
It was her first attempt at 1600m and she got no easy time in front. The 1400m here suits her better.
Grand Times (No 5, R2) does not have to improve much to take this.
Her Te Rapa second last start was when coming back from a break and she should be at least slightly improved.
Group Result (No 2) impressed last start and Tickle (No 7) is an improver.
The track conditions are likely to be on the soft side of easy, which means Kings Reach (No 1, R4) will not be too inconvenienced. He has good easy track form and is one-from-one on a soft surface.
The fields he has been racing against have been strong and although the No 14 barrier looks dodgy on paper, it may not end up being too problematic.
There might be a question mark over Brave Flyer (No 1, R5) starting if conditions get close to soft, but if he lines up, his class should overpower the others.
He struck Falkirk last time and the start before ran in group-one company in Sydney.
Watch for a better run from Identity (No 2) and Look At Moiye (No 3), who can be in the trifecta at good odds.
Forgive Al Kojapa (No 4, R6) being beaten favourite at Ellerslie last start.
He should be improved and the easier track conditions this time suit much better.
The combination of clear topweight of 57kg and a track more rain-affected than he prefers will not make it easy for Regal Krona (No 1, R7) in the $80,000 Rotorua Cup, but his class is such you simply have to be on his team.
He is full of guts and, remarkably, as an 8-year-old he looks to have held his form even better than in previous seasons. A repeat of his last-start second to talented Royal Secret in the Hawkes Bay Cup would get him home.
Any one of the rest could line up as the danger; perhaps Danzaman (No 2) and Diamond Hill (No 10) are worth considering.
Vega Sicilia (No 9, R8) went a useful, if not spectacular, race when resuming at Te Rapa last start, but is capable of quick improvement.
She is much more talented than her formline suggests and has won her only start at Rotorua.
Cool Talk (No 10, R10) deserves another win.
She has got to the line strongly in her last two runs and you can just imagine the winner of this race steaming home late up the centre of the track.
COMMENT
A horse who has not raced for nearly five months and has been operated on during that absence would not generally leap out of the page as the day's best bet.
Swallow (No 1, R9) could defy those odds at Rotorua today.
Five wins and close to $100,000 in stakemoney suggest a
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