Racing: Rain plunges $300,000 race back into winter

La Crique. Photo / Race Images

The promise of Group 1 racing on something resembling a spring track was dangled in front of punters before the rain and reality arrived to plunge Saturday's Hastings meeting back into winter.

While we are now a month into spring almost every feature thoroughbred race so far this season has been run on a heavy track, from the Winter Cup through the Foxbridge Plate at Te Rapa then the energy-sapping bog of the Tarzino at Hastings three weeks ago.

With the Hawke's Bay having had no rain this week track staff woke up on Friday hoping the meeting could be held on a soft 7 track as the track started to dry. But then the rain came and back to winter conditions we go.

With constant rain setting in from noon today and more forecast for tomorrow the meeting which hosts the $300,000 Plate and the $140,000 Hawke's Bay Guineas will be held on a heavy 10, with the only bonus for punters being at least most of the favourites have recent heavy track form to rate them on.

But it still leaves a decent-sized question mark over Plate favourite La Crique, the little mare with the massive motor who would have been a big shortener if the track had got back to a slow rating.

Now with a heavy 10 guaranteed, it won't just blunt her speed but aid key rivals Mustang Valley and Spring Tide, fit horses happy on heavy and ready to exploit any percentage points drop off in La Crique's performance.

While La Crique's trainers have suggested rain on the day could at least loosen the Hastings track and help her get through it rather than bogging her down, the reality is a truly heavy track helps her rivals and hinders her enough to steer serious punters away.

So it wouldn't surprise to see Mustang Valley tighten even further and give veteran jockey Vinnie Colgan his shot at Group 1 glory and trainer Andrew Forsman a chance at a major transtasman double.

Forsman has high-class filly Lickety Split in the A$300,000 Edward Manifold Stakes, in which the long strider should be better suited by both the return to set weights racing and the race being at Flemington.

She was third at Caulfield on her Australian debut and was originally set to head straight to the 1000 Guineas on October 12 but has come through that last start so well she races in an ideal assignment, especially with the best Sydney fillies yet to make their way to Melbourne.

One of the other key Kiwi players in Melbourne will be Roch N Horse, who looks to continue her outstanding Australian form in A$300,000 Gilgai Stakes (8.05pm) down the same straight 1200m she stunned the racing world winning the Group 1 Newmarket last summer.