Racing: Buster could spoil star turns in Otaki feature

Buster Brookfield could be the party pooper for the favourites in today's Otaki-Maori Racing Club feature, the $100,000 Auto Auctions WFA (1400m) at Trentham.

Buster Brookfield is one of three horses Woodville trainer Bruce Marsh will saddle up, the others being Cheiron and Golden Butterfly.

Asked to pick the best of the trio, he said: "Normally I would say Cheiron but that last run [when he failed over 2000m] is not the ideal preparation for this distance."

While there is a question mark over Cheiron, Buster Brookfield and Golden Butterfly look well placed in the star-studded field.

Buster Brookfield comes in fresh and he has a superb record in this condition - five wins from 10 starts. He loves Trentham, with three wins and two placings behind him, and is also a proven weight-for-age performer.

Brian Hibberd, who has ridden him once before for a win, takes control.

Golden Butterfly has also shown a liking for Trentham and has had three wins and a placing in eight starts there.

Darryl Bradley rides Golden Butterfly while Vinny Colgan teams up with Cheiron.

"I'm in a bit of a quandary about Cheiron and he's hard to assess in this. I'm forgetting about his last run. I've changed his work since then to freshen him and he should race prominently," Marsh said.

Cheiron will wear blinkers for the first time.

A good run by Cheiron would also encourage Marsh to press on with a tilt at the $A2.5 million Doncaster Handicap (1600m) in Sydney on April 14.

The hardest for the Marsh team to beat will be the minor placegetters to Sunline in the Waikato Draught, Fritz and Spring Rain. There was only a half length between them.

Southerner Fritz stayed on at Bulls after Te Rapa and trainer Neil Coulbeck reports he has thrived and is in the same condition as he was at Te Rapa.

"He couldn't have gone any better at Te Rapa," Coulbeck said.

Fritz, who won the Railway Handicap at Ellerslie on January 1, bagged the Telegraph Handicap (1200m) at Trentham last year.

"It's a good even field - you could make a case for all of them," Coulbeck said. He plans to leave the riding tactics to Noel Harris.

Roger James is delighted with Spring Rain's progress.

"She's had two open class races in the two toughest races in the country and has performed exceptionally well (she was just beaten by Star of Gold in the Telegraph in January).

"I don't think she has improved further. She was ready for Te Rapa and she is every bit as good now. I expect her to perform well." Michael Walker has the mount.

Tauranga mentor Ross Taylor is confident three-year-old Star Satire will play a hand in the finish.

Lowland Stakes winner Star Satire won a recent Cambridge trial (1050m).

The filly has not raced for nearly two months but Taylor points out she tends to race boldly on the fresh side.

Lance O'Sullivan rates class mare Cinder Bella highly and he will be up again today.

"She had a jumpout a couple of weeks ago and she galloped between races at Otaki on Saturday. She's about as forward as normal to resume," trainer Karen Zimmerman said.

"She's grown and filled out since she last raced and likes the big roomy Trentham track."

Cinder Bella has had two wins and a placing in three starts there. Zimmerman would be happy if she finished in the first three.

- NZPA