“All going well, Ōtaki is her next race, and I think the distance will suit, and then if we still want to go to Australia, because she will be up in distance, Sydney might be more likely,” says Kelso.
La Crique is also being targeted for Ōtaki but trainers Katrina and Simon Alexander want to get her scoped tomorrow to ensure she has taken no harm from an annoying fifth on Saturday.
“She got back and in between horses and really didn’t enjoy herself, she came back to scale an angry horse,” says Katrina Alexander.
“We are pretty sure she got some of the sand kick back in her throat, as there was sand in her water bucket when she was drinking afterwards.
“So we will make sure she comes through everything okay, and if she does, she will go to Ōtaki.”
Mustang Valley got closest to Imperatriz on Saturday but was minus jockey Wiremu Pinn, who was dislodged when the Livamol Classic winner clipped heels early on.
“She didn’t take any harm from it, so Ōtaki is the logical next step,” says trainer Andrew Forsman, who was not thrilled to hear Levante and La Crique are heading the same way.
“I thought we had picked out the right race because those mares would be in Australia but it is still the right next step.”
The runner-up on Saturday was Babylon Berlin, in her third straight Group 1 runner-up finish in six weeks, but she is unlikely to extend out to 1600m, with a more logical option for her the $100,000 Plate at Te Rapa on March 4, a race that could be shorn of most of our best sprinters.
Luckless day
It wasn’t just at Te Rapa that Forsman had no luck, with three of his best horses all unplaced at Sandown in Victoria on Saturday.
Aegon was sixth in the Orr Stakes, Mr Maestro in need of more ground in his comeback race, while high-class filly She’s Licketysplit performed below her best.
“I was happy enough with them, probably She’s Licketysplit was the only one who was plain but she should improve up in distance next time,” says Forsman.
“The same applies for Mr Maestro, while Aegon got back in a hot field and was actually pretty good.”
Suspension deferred
Jockey Warren Kennedy will defer a seven-day suspension so he can continue his association with Auckland Cup favourite Aquacade.
Kennedy had a busy day in the stewards’ room at Te Rapa, copping the suspension and fine for squeezing up his rivals on his way to winning the Ellis Classic on Prowess, while he was also fined for being one whip strike over the limit in the Herbie Dyke Stakes.
He has told trainer Lance Noble he will ask to defer his suspension so he can stick with Aquacade in Saturday’s Avondale Cup at Pukekohe on her way to the Auckland Cup on March 11. That will mean Kennedy will miss the week leading into February 25, when northern riders will be divided between Matamata and Ōtaki.
