Racing: White Noise is ready to roar with luxurious lighter weight

White Noise. Photo / Trish Dunell

The growing trend of former Hong Kong gallopers returning to New Zealand provides Easter Handicap winner White Noise with a luxurious return to racing at Ruakākā today.

White Noise hasn’t raced since winning the $120,000 Group 3 mile at Pukekohe in April and would usually be close to the top of the handicaps in a standard 1400m open handicap at Ruakākā.

Instead, he will carry a featherweight 52.5kg, with apprentice Donovan Cooper claiming 4kg off White Noise’s carded weight of 56.5kg.

That means White Noise will carry at least 9kg less than Not Ideal and Wanderin Apache, both relatively unknown to Kiwis after spending almost their entire careers in Hong Kong, having been sold there after racing or trialing here.

While Hong Kong racing remains a mystery to many New Zealanders, made more confusing by so many NZ horses having their names changed on arrival, there is an influx of former HK gallopers returning to race here.

Many are no longer suitable or competitive for racing there and are rehomed in New Zealand, as there is nowhere for horses to retire to in Hong Kong, and some of them end up back in training.

That is the case with Not Ideal and Wanderin Apache, who are owned by Waikato couple and horse rehomers Caitlin McKee and Nick Downs.

Both were good in Hong Kong, with Wanderin Apache having won at Group 2 level and clashed in Champion Miles with world star Golden Sixty.

That level of performance has earned them their big weights though, and while Not Ideal was excellent winning here under 62kg two starts ago, giving a proven Group 3 winner such as White Noise 9.5kg is a huge ask.

The latter has only had one quiet trial this campaign but trainer Andrew Forsman is confident White Noise is ready to go.

“Like most horses of his class returning in the spring, he will be better for the run but it looks a good race for him so I wouldn’t be surprised if he went a big race,” says Forsman.

With the TAB offering $4.60 for him he looks each-way value.

Later in the day, Forsman has his stable star Aegon returning in the A$300,000 Lawrence Stakes at Caulfield and while the opposition is not intimidating, he says being a six-year-old and drawn wide he will probably need this run and maybe another before peaking.

The Northland Breeders’ Stakes at Ruakākā looks a two-horse race between Trobriand and Crocetti.