Orchestral winning the Vinery at Rosehill in March.
Trainer Roger James is sending Orchestral to a race she probably can’t win to get her ready for one she can.
James and training partner Robert Wellwood will put superstar mare Orchestral on a plane to Melbourne on Wednesday for a tilt at the A$1 million Toorak Handicap at Caulfield this Saturday.
It will be a race with plenty of Karaka Millions night vibes about it as Orchestral, who won the Three-Year-Old Million at Ellerslie in January, will meet Desert Lightning, who won the Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic that same night.
The difference is Desert Lightning is a last-start winner while Orchestral has had what James describes as “a delicate spring”.
Which is why she is heading to the Toorak even though her connections realise Caulfield won’t be her ideal track.
“She had had a tricky spring, she was very delicate for much of it,” explains James.
“She grew so much during her break and wasn’t quite eating how we would have liked.
“But she has really come out since her fresh up run and we took her to Tauranga on Saturday for an exhibition gallop and she was really good.
“She looks like she has turned the corner and her work there was exactly what we wanted to see from her.
“Then she has come home, eaten well and come on from it even better.”
Orchestral will be reunited with champion jockey James McDonald on Saturday as he chases the 100th Group 1 of his career but James warns whatever she does this Saturday she will be better for it.
“I am not sure Caulfield will suit her because she will get back and it can be a hard track to make ground on,” says James.
“But the timing of the race works perfectly because then it is three weeks to the Empire Rose [Flemington, November 2] which might be her grand final for the spring.
“Being 1600m at Flemington it could suit her beautifully and we’d think the track there will suit her better than this Saturday.”
While Orchestral was pulled out of the last two legs of the Hawkes Bay Triple Crown, which were eventually moved to venues or dates that would have suited her better, James says the 4-year-old wouldn’t have started in the rescheduled races even if she had still been in the entries.
“She just wasn’t where she needed to be earlier in the spring to get ready for those races so I am not concerned about missing them.”
While a fully fit Orchestral would have been a hot favourite for Saturday’s $550,000 Livamol which has been transferred to Te Rapa, James says he and Wellwood haven’t given up on winning the Group 1.
“We still have Dionysus going there and we think he has a real chance,” says James.
He has run on well over 1600m in both his starts this campaign so will be suited by the step up to 2040m.
Orchestral won’t be the only Kiwi galloper chasing a serious race at Caulfield on Saturday with Wolfgang heading there for the Herbert Power Stakes.
The 6-year-old son of Puccini has been faultless this preparation, winning both of his starts, including downing Australian raider Rolls at Matamata last week.
“He was second-up over 2000m and he attacked the line really well. I am very happy,” said Peter McKay, who trains the gelding with his son Shaun.
The Matamata conditioners were weighing up making a late nomination for the Livamol but have opted to head to Australia with the gelding instead.
“We are looking to try and get him on a plane this week to race on Saturday at Caulfield in the Herbert Power,” McKay said.
“I worked out it’s about $13,000 [to go to the Livamol] by the time you pay the late nomination and acceptances, and with the weather watch as well, I am not sure what Te Rapa is going to be like.
“It also didn’t work right with the weight-for-age, where it is going to be a handicap over there.”
It may be a hit-and-run mission with Wolfgang this week, however, McKay said they may press on with their charge in Australia if he performs up to expectations.
“If he can run in the first four or five I will be pretty happy, and we will know where he is at,” he said.
– extra reporting, NZ Racing Desk
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.