She has won the Karaka Millions and the Matamata Breeders Stakes and you could make a case that if she wins today, she could challenge stablemate Return To Conquer for the juvenile of the year title.
So what is the problem?
Well, it may not end up being a problem but there is a nagging doubt after La Dorada missed the Sistema Stakes at Ellerslie on Champions Day after having a high temperature, which means she hasn’t raced for six weeks heading into today’s final Group 1 of the season.
Class may still get her home but 1400m around Trentham can feel a long way and if La Dorada’s big gap between runs leaves her short of peak fitness, today’s race is the one most likely to expose that.
Bergerson still thinks she will be close to her peak.
“We know it isn’t ideal but she has had two exhibition gallops at race meetings in the last two weeks,” said Bergerson.
“Michael McNab, who rides her on Saturday, rode her in the second of those and he was beaming afterwards.
“So we are confident we have her spot on, but at 1400m, I guess we won’t know until the pressure goes on right at the end.”
If La Dorada is vulnerable, her stablemates may be best placed to profit, with To Bravery Born and Hostility both hugely talented, and filly Born To Be Royal having class but already looking better 3-year-old material.
“To Bravery Born has been kept fresh and we think that is how he goes best, so while he will need to go better than last start, we think he will.
“And Hostility is a horse we really like. Obviously, David [Ellis, Te Akau boss] paid big money for him at the Ready To Run sales and he was beaten fresh up but he has really come on since then.
“He has a long stride that suggests he should relish 1400m around Trentham, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go really well.”
On a busy day of black-type racing in the capital, recent big-race form looks the best guide.
Kiwi Skyhawk (R6, No 1) was fifth in the NZ Derby last start and the four who beat him home are all being set for the ATC Derby next week. With those rivals out of the way, he picks himself in the Higgins Concrete Manawatū Classic.
Waitāk (R7, No 1) steps up to 2100m for the first time in nearly two years in the Awapuni Gold Cup, where his major danger should be Whangaehu, coming off close-up runs with good sectionals in the Herbie Dyke Stakes and Bonecrusher at Ellerslie.
The Lightning Handicap presents the sprinters with an interesting stamina test at the 1400m but Platinum Attack (R9, No 6) dashed home late in the corresponding race last Saturday and should handle the step up in distance.
Alabama Lass is favoured to win her $500,000 sprint at Flemington today, while La Crique faces a more daunting task against a couple of world-class gallopers in Dubai Honour and Vauban in the A$1.5 million ($1.65m) Tancred at Rosehill.
Today’s Kiwi racing highlights
- Trentham: $550,000 Courtesy Ford Manawatū Sires’ Produce, 1400m
- Flemington: A$500,000 HKJC World Pool Stakes, 1100m (Alabama Lass)
- Rosehill: A$1.5 million Tancred Stakes, 2400m (La Crique); A$300,000 Tulloch Stakes (Golden Century and Mustang Morgan).
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.
