Racing: Makfi Stakes winner targets Awapuni return

Kawi hasn't raced since his dynamic Makfi display. Photo / Race Images

Kawi is making steady progress following a setback and the Group One winner is likely to be back on track later this month.

The Savabeel gelding hasn't stepped out since his dynamic display to win the Makfi Challenge Stakes on the opening day of the Hawkes Bay carnival at the end of August.

"He had a muscle issue around the kidney area, but he seems fine again now," trainer Allan Sharrock said.

"He worked for the first time[yesterday] morning and I was happy with the way he galloped."

Sharrock has pencilled in the Feilding Gold Cup meeting at Awapuni on October 31 as a likely starting point for Kawi. "There's an open sprint there and then he'll go to the Group Two weight-for-age race at Tauranga with the Captain Cook Stakes to follow and possibly the Zabeel Classic before he goes to the paddock," he said.

Kawi's stablemate The Bold One is also unraced since he made a winning return at Hastings after a wide gate ruled out a start on Livamol Classic day for the well-related five-year-old.

"He'll go to Wellington on October 24 for a Rating 85 over 1200 metres," Sharrock said. "I couldn't have run him from the 15 alley at Hastings, that would have been suicide, and it won't matter if he draws wide at Trentham. It's almost a straight run there."

The Bold One remains in contention for a trip to the New Zealand Cup carnival for a crack at the Group Three Lindauer Stewards' Stakes on November 11.

Distance doubts with Selfie have cast a shadow over earlier plans to target the Group One Sothys NZ 2000 Guineas with last season's Karaka Million runner-up.

The Pukekohe three-year-old might be steady at $14 in the market for the November 7 mile classic, but the odds of him getting to Christchurch have drifted.

Selfie was unplaced last time out in the Group Two Hawke's Bay Guineas and while he has taken no harm from the run, it has raised questions.

Meanwhile, Selfie's stablemate Untamed Diamond is likely to make her next appearance in the three-year-old sprint at Rotorua on Saturday.

-NZ Racing Desk