Racing: Hypnos may not like heavy going

Hypnos may struggle in the wet tomorrow. Photo / Race Images

A week after a day where almost nothing could go wrong, Cambridge trainer Roger James is putting himself in a situation tomorrow where he knows it definitely could.

James and training partner Robert Wellwood had a stunning last Saturday when they had wins in Groups 1, 2 and 3 races in under three hours at Te Rapa and finished second in a Group 3 at Awapuni for the kind of day most horse trainers dream of.

James knows things won't be quite as cut and dried (excuse the pun) on a heavy track for Hypnos in his black type target at Awapuni tomorrow.

Last season's Coupland Mile winner was an acceptor at Te Rapa tomorrow and the $110,000 Challenge Stakes at Awapuni, where the track was rated heavy11 yesterday.

While Hypnos has won on a heavy track, James is adamant that is not his preferred surface with that perceived disadvantage amplified by the fact the other favourites in the race, Tavi Mac, Justaskme and Coventina Bay, have all also won on heavy.

In the case of Tavi Mac and Justaskme, they excel on wet ground.

"We might be up against it against those other two horses who are so proven on the wet," says James.

The last time Hypnos raced in something comparable was when he finished second to Justaskme over 1600m on a heavy track at Tauranga six weeks ago. But he was five lengths in arrears that day so he will need to either improve or be more at home on tomorrow's surface.

That performance makes Justaskme the one to beat tomorrow and he was quickly backed in from $3.50 to $2.50 in the first 24 hours of betting on the race.

His stablemate Tavi Mac may still be the better horse and makes logical appeal at weight-for-age but he has looked like a small, elongated sports car racing with a few cylinders not firing this season, being unplaced in three of his last four starts after having early won 11 of his 17 first races.

He is trained by a genius in Allan Sharrock and it would surprise nobody to see him bounce back tomorrow and defend the title he won last season when defeating Callsign Mav.

Coventina Bay is back from a largely luckless Queensland winter campaign but has trialled well and has to be a threat as the last time she raced in New Zealand she pushed Avantage to a neck in the Group 1 NZ Breeders Stakes on a slow track at Te Rapa.

Meanwhile, James reports Captain Cook Stakes winner Two Illicit and Cal Isuzu Stakes winner Concert Hall have come through their Te Rapa wins in fine style and head to the Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

Both will have jockey changes for the Zabeel, with Vinnie Colgan back from suspension and on Two Illicit while Leith Innes, who rode Concert Hall to win last Saturday, is committed to Aegon for the Zabeel. No jockey has been confirmed for the defending champion.

The Zabeel will be the highlight of the return of Ellerslie after such a long break and the Auckland track will host several key Boxing Day contenders such as Tutukaka and Pareanui Bay in public track gallops from 7.30am today.