Kiwi-owned filly Fringes was a brave winner at Morphettville, Australia.
No luck but no damage done.
That is the summary from two of New Zealand’s biggest stables after brave but beaten performances for two smart gallopers in different states of Australia on Saturday.
Cambridge filly Single Red was left in front too far from home when the leader stopped in the A$160,000 Gold Coast Bracelet on the Gold Coast, being caught late by Karaka sales graduate Nightline.
But trainer Andrew Forsman liked what he saw from Single Red’s second as she prepares for the Queensland Oaks next month.
“I thought it was a good run,” Forsman said.
“The leader kicked up inside her and then she was left in front when it stopped and there wasn’t anything Craig [Grylls, jockey] could do about it.
“She fought really well to the line although the winner won pretty well and might be a good filly.”
Forsman thinks Single Red will be player in the Oaks at Eagle Farm on June 6, especially as the Queensland version is 2200m rather than the more traditional 2400m distance.
She remains fourth favourite at $7 with fellow Cambridge filly Solid Gold the $6 third favourite.
The latter arrives in Australia this week and will link up with stablemate Sweynesday, who also didn’t have any luck when fifth in the A$250,000 Takeover Target at Gosford on Saturday.
The speedster was trapped wide throughout from a difficult draw and had every reason to puncture at the 200m mark but kept coming in a run that pleased co-trainer Robert Wellwood.
“He almost managed to find a gap and get into the running line down the back straight but it just wasn’t big enough,” says Wellwood.
“Being trapped three wide and then pushed four and five wide really didn’t help but he stuck to his guns really well.
“He will be better for the run and now we need to work out what is the best race to try and get him into the Stradbroke next month.”
Sweynesday has two obvious options, the BRC Sprint at Doomben on May 23 or the A$1 million Kingsford Smith Cup, a Group 1 over 1300m at Eagle Farm on May 30.
“The timing of the Kingsford Smith Cup works better but it is weight-for-age, which isn’t ideal, so we have some thinking to do.”
The latter could be very strong with the market headed by Jimmysstar.
The other New Zealand-trained galloper taking on the Aussies on Saturday was Platinum Pantheon, who was a close up sixth in the Gold Coast Guineas for trainer Lisa Latta.
While no New Zealand-trained horses managed a win across the Tasman on Saturday it was a day stacked with Kiwi breeding and owning success, with plenty of those winners having started their careers here.
The richest win was Desert Lightning in the A$1m Goodwood at Morphettville, South Australia’s biggest sprint race.
Formerly trained by Peter and Dawn Williams, he was transferred to Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman when the Williams retired from training but is still owned by Barneswood Farms.
In New Zealand, Desert Lightning won the Group 1 TAB Classic at Trentham and most famously defeated Legarto in the first Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic at Ellerslie the day the TAB had already paid out futures bets on Legarto winning.
Desert Lightning wasn’t the only New Zealand-owned winner at Morphettville as Fringes won the $170,000 Fillies Classic for breeder and owner Trish Dunell, the well-known photographer who has been part of the fabric of New Zealand racing for decades.
At Gosford former NZ Derby winner Asterix took out the A$300,000 Gosford Cup for trainer Chris Waller with ex-pat jockey Jason Collett aboard, the big horse still owned in New Zealand by a group that includes Kiwi cricket legend Mark Greatbatch.
NZ-bred Monopolistic, who was sold by Windsor Park as a yearling for A$500,000, won a staying race at Gosford and is now the third favourite for the Queensland Derby.
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.