Racing: Lickety Split starts the spring in style

Lickety Split, outer, won the Northland Breeders Stakes yesterday. Photo / Trish Dunell

Lickety Split showed she will be a force to be reckoned with in the three-year-old feature events over the next few months, winning the Northland Breeders Stakes at Ruakaka yesterday.

Given a perfect ride by Courtney Barnes, who recorded her sixth career stakes victory, the filly settled one-out in midfield as the well-fancied pair of Pacific Dragon and Deploy set up a solid pace.

Lickety Split moved into contention nearing the home turn, despite the wayward Pacific Dragon causing problems for Deploy and the eventual winner as she moved out sharply in the final stages. But Lickety Split pinned back her ears to deny Pacific Dragon by a head on the line.

Trainer Andrew Forsman, who was in Melbourne at The Valley to saddle stablemate Mr Maestro, who finished a close-up fourth in a three-year-old 1500m contest, was delighted to see Lickety Split make a winning return.

"It was a really good effort, as they were a little wayward in front of her and she did cop a bit of a bump," he said. "I thought Courtney did a great job, as she kept her balanced and held her up for the closing stages.

"She spelled very well and has furnished into a pretty powerful unit now and I think she will just keep getting better. You always have a few nerves first-up as to whether you have them fit enough, but she showed she wanted to be there. She knows where the winning post is and she will only get better from here."

Forsman was reluctant to single out a race as the next step in the filly's campaign, as he doesn't want to race her on heavy winter surfaces.

"We haven't looked too far ahead with her as I really just wanted to get her safely through [yesterday]," he said.

"She doesn't like the very wet tracks and that is what we're going to cop for the next six weeks at least, so we will play it by ear and just keep her ticking over until we can find a suitable race and surface for her."

● The Shaun Phelan-trained Hit The Road Jack showed his staying prowess when landing a captivating edition of the Ruakaka Cup (2200m), providing his conditioner with his first solo training success.

Having previously trained in partnership with father Craig, multi-talented horseman Phelan was delighted to see Hit The Road Jack notch the fourth victory of his 29-start career, which also features 12 placings.

"We had a plan there and he is a tough staying horse, so you can do those sorts of things on him," Phelan said. "The New Zealand Cup [Group 3, 3200m] at Riccarton in November is the obvious race for him."

- NZ Racing Desk