So what is the problem on Sunday?
The 8-year-old has been given 66kg in the open handicap, 4.5kg more than former Horse of the Year Sharp N Smart.
That is a weight very few high-class horses would ever be asked to carry, and Ladies Man’s will be lightened by the 4kg claim of apprentice Ashlee Strawbridge.
That means he carries a hefty but not so ridiculous 62kg, just a touch more than the enigmatic Sharp N Smart.
“I was going to send him around at Ōtaki last Saturday, but had to weigh up whether he was better going around on a heavy track there or with the really big weight this week,” Sharrock said.
“I reckon he is better off on Sunday, and Ashlee rides well, so he will get his chance. But with that big a weight, and over the 1600m, I think it might be a bit too short for him.”
Sharrock needs to start Ladies Man to have him close to his peak for the Group 1 Howden Mile back at Te Rapa on September 27. However, he views even that as more of a lead-up race to the Livamol Classic at Ellerslie on October 18.
It is a race Ladies Man won at its usual home of Hastings two years ago, and Sharrock would love a crack at it from a good barrier with a fully fit stable star next month.
“We had two cracks at those big 2000m weight-for-age races last summer and got bad barriers both times, got too far back and couldn’t catch horses like Snazzytavi and El Vencedor.
“I’d love to be closer to that big horse [El Vencedor] in the Livamol this year as I reckon we can give him something to think about.”
With only six rivals on Sunday, some of them fresh up and others out of form, it still wouldn’t be a surprise to see Ladies Man win. But Sharrock is very good at knowing when his horses are peaking, so his lack of outward confidence for Sunday should be taken seriously.
He takes a handy representation to his home-track meeting tomorrow on what is an oddly quiet domestic spring Saturday of racing, with just one black-type race at Riccarton.
“I reckon Indian Gold [R6, No 5] is our best chance because, while Tisse is a good horse in the same race, he would prefer a better track,” said Sharrock.
“And the way I Don’t [R8, No 3) worked last week, she has to be a chance in the last race, which will be close to her last race as she heads to stud to be covered by Hilal soon.”
Track inspection needed before today’s Matamata meeting
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing has alerted trainers to the possibility of a disruption to Matamata’s meeting, with the track rated a Heavy 10 and more rain forecast overnight.
“The track will be walked/inspected from 6am Friday,” said an NZTR statement yesterday.
“This will include representatives from trainers, jockeys, the RIB and the club, and an update will be issued after the inspection.”
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.
