Stratford mare's form not too flash but she's worth a punt in Te Rapa feature
The form might look ordinary on paper, but don't dismiss Ekstreme for that reason in tomorrow's $85,000 Travis Stakes at Te Rapa.
The wide gate at the 2000m starting point could be a reason to question the chances, but the form is not, despite the 0-66 numerals.
Ekstreme is one
of New Zealand's massively under-rated horses.
In the spring, she won the group one Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham, followed by victory over Dancing Jess and Veloce Bella in the Cal Isuzu Stakes at Te Rapa.
She might have been feeling the effects of that when she was beaten in the Zabeel Classic, also the firm conditions that day did not suit.
She wasn't disgraced when only 3.6 lengths off Tavistock in the group one 1400m Waikato Draught Sprint at Te Rapa and, as a back runner, was completely outsped in Mufhasa's remarkable 1:32.89 1600m group one at Otaki.
Her two most recent runs in Sydney were better than they look on paper, particularly the last start when sixth, 5.2 lengths behind Typhoon Tracy in the A$500,000 Queen Of The Turf Stakes at Rosehill.
"We were stiff we drew the outside gate that day and as a result she had to go back to the tail of the field," said trainer Bryce Revell. Having Typhoon Tracy in front is very unhelpful in those circumstances.
"The only choice was to come up the fence that day and I believe if she'd drawn a good gate she'd have been third or fourth."
Another terrific run, nearly 12 months back, was her half-head second in the Doomben Roses in Brisbane.
Rain assists Ekstreme, but is not crucial. The Te Rapa track, on which she has won twice from four starts, is never too firm and with some rain forecast for today, conditions should be ideal.
"I would have liked to have stayed in Sydney with her, but you need a bit of rain and a decent draw against the best over there and you could sit there for weeks and not get either," said Revell.
"I thought it was better to come home and concentrate on Brisbane after this race."
The obvious pair to beat are stablemates Boundless and Culminate. As the winners of more than $1.5 million collectively they are well suited to the set weights structure of this race.
Boundless looked right at her top form when she exploded out of a trail to win last week's Hawkes Bay Cup.
From a reasonable gate again this time she should be in the right place again to challenge early in the home straight.
Culminate has not been so lucky. She has the outside gate of the 16 runners and with a short run to the first bend from the 2000m starting point, she faces a problem.
If the decision is made to ride Culminate forward to take up the running, like she prefers, she would be extremely vulnerable if she doesn't make the lead.
The ground she would cover would almost certainly cost her a winning chance.
Culminate's form is fantastic. She won on this track like there was no opposition three starts back then was narrowly beaten by Juice at group one level after being taken on in front in the first half of the race.
Her fourth placing in the Easter was almost her best run when she finished just three lengths from Time Keeper after being three and four wide throughout.
There is no problem about her jumping to 2000m - she covered just about that far in the 1600m Easter.
Veloce Bella's last two runs have been below her best, but she returns to her favourite Te Rapa track this time.
She won here at group one level three starts back before Matamata and Te Aroha failures and now has a record of four wins on the track and four at tomorrow's 2000m, which appears to be her favourite trip.