This time it will be Crocetti who has to burn early as he has barrier 9, the first time in his career that he has drawn that wide. In fact, for seven of his nine starts, he has drawn barriers 1 to 3.
The only two times he has drawn wider, at barriers 6 and 7, were in far weaker fields when he was able to still lead and dominate so today presents a different challenge for the 2000 Guineas winner.
“I might have to try and do a Bonny Lass,” says Kennedy.
“She flew out of the gates to cross us that day [at Te Rapa] and I will be going forward on Saturday for sure.
“I see three with early speed inside us, Bonny Lass, Sacred Satono and Faraglioni, so if we go early forward and can cross them great.
“But if something kicks up inside us I think that will mean we are going pretty quick and we should then be able to get in, maybe one off with cover, because those four will be the quickest ones early.
“So I am not worried about the draw. We will be going forward and we will be handy somewhere.”
Kennedy wasn’t aboard Crocetti when he won his comeback race at Ruakākā a month ago and was initially worried that dogged effort fresh up on a wet track may have flattened the gelding who, while he has a beautiful long stride, is hardly the most robust.
“I was keen to get on him at the Taupō trials after that to see what Ruakākā had taken out of him but clearly it didn’t flatten him at all,” says Kennedy.
“He felt really strong at Taupō and has worked well since so I think he is spot on for this week.”
Today’s result could be crucial for Crocetti not just because of the glory and the stake money but because a comprehensive win would set him up beautifully for a Sydney campaign culminating in the A$10 million Golden Eagle.
But defeat might cause a rethink of some of those plans, such are the stakes at play today.
Bonny Lass is the logical danger and won’t need to be much better than she was winning the Foxbridge Stakes last start, her $5 looking very fair each way odds for a mare who rarely misses a place.
While the Tarzino is the domestic highlight today, there are huge support races at Hastings, with the two 3-year-old races containing most of our elite juveniles from last season.
There is also excellent racing at Ruakākā, where Group 1 winner El Vencedor returns, while in Australia the sprinters take centre stage at both Randwick and The Valley as the road to The Everest gets out of the foothills and into the mountains.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand Horse of the Year for last season will be crowned at a function in Hamilton tomorrow night.
Today’s racing
- Hastings, featuring Group 1 Tarzino, first race 11.50am
- Ruakākā, first race 12.05pm
- Randwick, first race 1.50pm
- The Valley, first race 2.10pm
- Menangle, A$2.1 million Eureka at 10.45pm (NZ time)
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.
