“The plan was to get her nice and relaxed, keep her in hand and keep her balanced, but at the same time, making sure we have benefited from the day out.
“It was pretty much a perfect trial.”
La Crique’s spring preparation last year was hampered by inclement weather, but Alexander is hoping trialling under the sun at Taupō is a sign of things to come ahead of La Crique’s first target, the Group 1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) at Hastings next month.
“We just have our fingers crossed that the weather continues to pick up from now,” she said.
“We are still sticking to our decision that if it doesn’t do that and it doesn’t behave then we will be patient, but at this stage it is looking very promising and we are on track for where we need to be, we just need the weather to play its part.”
Alexander has been pleased with the way La Crique has returned this preparation, believing she is finally starting to mature.
“I am quite pleased with how she has settled into the new stables. That doesn’t seem to have interrupted anything,” she said.
“Maturity is coming. She has come up in front quite a lot. There is still not a lot of her compared to other horses, but she is developing.”
Earlier at the trials, Imperatriz showed she is ready for her Melbourne campaign when making ground behind tearaway winner Our Alley Cat, with Legarto third.
- Racing Desk
