The $400,000 Proisir has a lot of moving parts and more big-name horses than just about any season launcher in the last 20 years.
Any one of eight or even 10 horses could win it without surprising, as tempo and trips could decide one of the very rare Group 1s to ever be run over 1400m at Ellerslie.
It will be the highlight of a meeting that feels like not only a starting point for the new season but a collective sigh of relief from the racing community that they survived the long, cold haul of winter racing.
While the big boys and girls of weight-for-age are our equine movie stars there are plenty of exciting support acts in the two 3-year-old races today, none more so than Hostility (R6, No.2).
From the time he smashed the record when purchased by Te Akau’s David Ellis last November, he had a lot to live up to.
And while he is still a maiden he has already run second in the Group 1 Sires’ Produce Stakes, so his talent is undoubted.
That is one reason he is the early favourite for this season’s 2000 Guineas, with regular rider Opie Bosson’s glowing reports on the colt also adding to the hype.
Because he has a big reputation and stride to match, it was slightly underwhelming to see him only fourth in his first trial of this campaign and then need to be ridden out a touch to win his second trial at Ellerslie last week.
Which is why trainer Sam Bergerson reached into the gear bag for blinkers for Hostility today.
“He was probably a horse who was always going to end up wearing them because he is so laid back but I didn’t think we would go for them this early,” says Bergerson.
“He is a colt and just way too casual and we think the blinkers will wake him up and being 1200m they will go quick enough this week that he won’t have time to over-race in them.
“We know how good he is, so it is just us getting his mind on the job nice and early.”
Te Akau, like many stables, will often use the addition of blinkers as a “turbo button” for horses, leaving them off at the trials but applying them raceday when they want to tell their horse it is time to go to work.
Usually it works and if it does today, Hostility’s $2.70 (boosted to $2.90) will seem fair, albeit from a slightly sticky barrier.
Bergerson thinks stablemate He Who Dares can use barrier 1 in the same race, so he has some each way or saver bet appeal on a day when the stable have plenty of winning chances but are staying realistic.
“Many of ours could win but it is such a great meeting we could go home without winning a race, although that is not the plan,” smiles Bergerson.
He opts for the TAB Racing Club-owned In Haste (R7, No.2) as their logical best chance in the $150,000 Gold Trail Stakes but admits both Quintessa and Qali Al Farrasha face huge tasks because of their draws or distance concerns respectively in the Proisir Plate.
“We have plenty of other winning chances like Cool N Fast, Carsolio and Age Of Discovery, who I think can be a real improver this week.
“The whole team is well but it is really hard racing and a lot will come down to who gets the luck.”
The Te Akau team’s Australian stable line up La Dorada against fellow Kiwi flyer and favourite Alabama Lass in the A$750,000 Moir Stakes at The Valley at 6.50pm (NZ time).
“With her wide draw and the fact she is only a three-year-old taking on weight-for-age I’d say we would be thrilled with a top 5 finish.”
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
