Winter specialist Caitlyns Wish was in her element in the testing conditions at Te Rapa on Saturday and scored a determined front-running victory in the Group 1 Turf Bar Sprint (1200m).
The $40,000 open handicap was the seventh win of a 24-start career for the daughter of Belardo, with allof those victories coming on heavy tracks. She has made a habit of winning at Te Rapa around this time of year, taking out a 1200m 3-year-old race in July 2023 and a 1200m open handicap last June.
The 5-year-old had been a bit below that level in the early stages of her latest preparation. Her first three runs back had produced an eighth, a fifth and a fourth, beaten by a combined margin of more than 25 lengths. But trainer Stephen Autridge headed to Te Rapa on Saturday with a feeling Caitlyns Wish was about to turn the corner.
“It’s just taken a while to build up her fitness this time in,” the Matamata horseman said. “She’s pretty robust and just keeps thriving and I can’t give her any more work.
“But today she had a lot of things in her favour. She won a similar race here last winter, where she led and kicked again, and it was more of the same today. She just loves when there’s a bit of rain on the day. I could see a fair way out that she was travelling well.”
Caitlyns Wish has been ridden to all but one of her seven wins by Maria Sanson, who was in the saddle again on Saturday. The chestnut mare broke well from gate two and was sent forward by Sanson to take up an early lead.
The pair’s rivals tried to put Caitlyns Wish under pressure a long way from home. Cleat went forward and sat on her outside coming down the side of the track, while Gospodin, Dusty Road and Martell were all breathing down her neck and poised to strike at the home turn.
But Caitlyns Wish dug deep and fought ferociously down the straight. She refused to relinquish her advantage and held her challengers at bay to win by half a length.
“I was giving her a growl and a slap on the shoulder, but I didn’t want to unbalance her on this ground today,” Sanson said. “This is probably the heaviest track I’ve ever seen at Te Rapa. It’s hard work out there.
“She’s had a few runs this time in. She was able to win second-up last winter, but has taken a bit longer this year. She was about 600kg after her summer spell, so she had a bit of weight to lose. But she’s reached that level of fitness now, the tracks are heavy, and she should be able to go on with it.
“I’ve won six on her now and ride her in all her trackwork, so she’s a horse I’ve had a lot to do with. I’m very happy to get another win on her today.”
Autridge indicated that Caitlyn’s Wish might return to Te Rapa for the $50,000 open handicap over 1300m on July 26.
“We’ll definitely look to come back here for that next meeting,” he said. “The only issue is we generally prefer to stick to 1200m, because she can’t go much further than that.”
