New Year's Day special Where: Ellerslie. When: Saturday, first race 12.20pm. What: New Zealand's strongest thoroughbred race meeting of the season so far. Who: NZ's glamour galloping mares, elite stayers, a sensational mile field and the best juveniles. Can you go? For the first time in six months, yes. Ellerslie reopens to public withhospitality and general admittance.
Trainers usually prefer to have their horses not racing fast horses, but in the case of Levante, it could increase her chances in the $240,000 Sistema Railway at Ellerslie on Saturday.
The first Group 1 in the world for 2022 looks worthy of the honour and a perfect race to draw the crowds back to the home of Auckland racing. The Railway is traditionally New Zealand's greatest sprint and is being touted as a match race of two truly sensational mares in Entriviere and Levante, as both look for their first Group 1 races, even though it has more depth than that.
Trained near each other in Matamata, they have similar records, with Levante having won eight of 12 races and never further back than fifth, while Entriviere has won six of 10, with a fourth her worst placing, that in a A$2 million race in Australia.
They can both unwind stunning closing sectionals and look at their most dynamic when settling off the speed and unwinding, although Entriviere doesn't usually get as far back as Levante.
Getting tailed off in her races was the biggest problem for Levante early in her career but she has improved and was able to settle handier (midfield) in her comeback race at Te Rapa and blast past two race rivals for Saturday in Roch N Horse and Babylon Berlin.
She broke 33 seconds for her last 600m that day but the problem for Levante, and the reason she isn't favourite for the Railway, is Entriviere can unleash sectionals just as quick but tends to settle handier.
So even regardless of how they fare when the barrier draws come out late this morning, most would expect Entriviere to be in front of Levante starting the last 600m.
And that is why co-trainer Ken Kelso is happy with the depth of the field and the presence of genuine speedsters such as Babylon Berlin and Packing Rockstar.
"I'd like to see a good tempo in the race, that would help our mare," he told the Herald.
"Last year, they eased up in the middle stages of the race and that didn't suit her, but being the Railway, you would usually expect the speed to be on."
Levante, Entriviere and Babylon Berlin all warmed up for Saturday winning 1000 open catchweight trials at Rotorua on December 13, and while all were impressive, Babylon Berlin beat Roch N Horse and Hallmark Stud Stakes winner Festivity, and Levante beat another Boxing Day winner in Bonny Lass so they just secured skiting rights from that huge treble of trials.
"She has come on well since then and Ryan [Elliot, race jockey] came here and rode her [yesterday] and we were both very happy," said Kelso.
He is also happy with the Auckland weather which should see Ellerslie come up a Dead4 and possibly improve to a Good3 by Railway time, which would suit Levante better than Entriviere, who has won on good tracks but is probably at her most lethal when the track has slightly more moisture in it.
