Well Written was so good in winning the Windsor Park Soliloquy Stakes at Ellerslie on Saturday that she will have rival trainers considering their options. Photo / Kenton Wright
Decisions, decisions.
One of the great days of transtasman racing on Saturday has left plenty of trainers wondering “what next?”, some because they got what they wanted and others because they didn’t.
Let’s start at the top and the horse whose connections don’t have to think too much.
Even on a day of stunning performances at Ellerslie, Caulfield, Randwick and even Melton, the undoubted superstar of the show was Ka Ying Rising.
The former New Zealand galloper’s win in the A$20 million ($22.7m) Everest was a great moment for both New Zealand and Hong Kong racing and possibly the story of the racing year worldwide.
He will now head home to Hong Kong to be set for their International Race Week in December, then a summer culminating in the country’s other biggest meeting in April and more than likely an Everest defence this time next year.
That alone will make him the most-watched horse in world racing for the next six to 12 months – and he has become the best possible promotional tool for the Everest.
From now on, every time a horse wins a Group 1 sprint in Australia, the automatic question will be: how would it go against Ka Ying Rising in the Everest though?
An added bonus of winning Everest when not at his best is that true fans of a good horse won’t have to put up with Australian racing pundits carrying on about the Hong Kong fishbowl and how the form for all the good horses is overrated.
He was worth the price of admission for that alone.
Those who finished behind Ka Ying Rising still have plenty of riches to chase in both Sydney and Melbourne, but their connections will be happy to see the back of the big Kiwi who can fly.
Facing a bigger decision, albeit easier, are the connections of Caulfield Cup winner Half Yours.
He is now the $5 favourite for the Melbourne Cup and while his win on Saturday will see him re-handicapped from the 52.5kg he carried there, he would still be the best of the local hopes at Flemington.
Co-trainer Calvin McEvoy wasn’t committing to running him in the Melbourne Cup on Sunday morning but the language suggested the big horse will be there.
“It’s too early to come to a firm decision but it is going to be hard to pass up that opportunity if he really pleases us over the next few days,” McEvoy said.
One horse who could have been in the Melbourne Cup but is looking more doubtful by the day is Sharp N Smart.
The former New Zealand Horse of the Year was back to something closer to his best with excellent sectionals finishing in third behind a rampant Waitak in the Livamol at Ellerslie on Saturday.
Co-trainer Graeme Rogerson will have a team talk with Sharp N Smart’s owners on Monday but the usually bullish trainer didn’t give the impression he is booking his Melbourne hotel room.
“He could go to Melbourne but there are also some good races here for him over the summer and he could race in those and be set for the Sydney Cup,” Rogerson told the Herald.
“Or another serious option is going to Hong Kong for the 2400m International race in December.”
Closer to home, the decisions may be made for the trainers of some of New Zealand’s best 3-year-old fillies as to which Guineas to head to at Riccarton next month.
Well Written will have scared rivals trainers with a stunning win in the Windsor Park Soliloquy Stakes at Ellerslie on Saturday and while she got the right run, horses don’t win Group 2 races like that often.
If she reproduces that in the 1000 Guineas on November 8, it is hard to see her being beaten.
Trainers of her filly rivals have the option to target the 2000 Guineas a week later instead, as the filly crop looks better than the boys – but most of the fillies weren’t in the early noms so would face a hefty late payment.
One who is entered for both races and could bypass the fillies to take on the boys is Tajana, with co-trainer Shaune Ritchie confirming that is now a very real possibility, but a decision won’t be made until after watching the boys in the Sarten Memorial at Te Rapa next Monday.
Over in harness land, long-time New Zealand Cup favourite Leap To Fame was beaten into third in the Victoria Cup on Saturday night and his trainer Grant Dixon says he won’t make a decision on whether the champion pacer comes to Addington for November 11 until later this week.
But punters should factor him as unlikely to be at Addington, a shame for the race but a lifeline to local trainers resigned to the fact they can’t beat the best version of him.
An amazing weekend, full of drama and laced with greatness.
And it is only five days until Via Sistina tries to defend her Cox Plate.
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.