Weekend racing with Iain Hyndman: Shadow Cast to be kept to sprints

Sprint path likely for Shadows Cast beginning with the Gr.2 Kamada Park Manawatu Challenge Stakes on his home track on Saturday. Photo / Race Images

Group One winning miler Shadows Cast may be kept to sprint distances in the coming months, starting with the Gr.2 Kamada Park Manawatu Challenge Stakes (1400m) at Awapuni on Saturday.

The Mark Oulaghan-trained gelding won last year's edition of the race before going on to secure his maiden Group One victory in the Thorndon Mile (1600m) at Trentham in January.

Shadows Cast will head into Saturday off the back of a runner-up performance behind Wyndspelle in the Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Trentham.

"We were happy enough with the run. It was a good effort," Oulaghan said. "He seems to have got over it okay,"

Oulaghan is hoping summer weather will return before Saturday, with Shadow's Cast preferring firmer footing.

"There is pretty heavy rain here at the moment, we wouldn't want it to be too wet, but if it comes up close to a firm track I think he will be pretty competitive," he said earlier in the week.

While the Thorndon Mile remains an option for Shadows Cast next month, Oulaghan doesn't believe the conditions suit his 105 rated gelding, and is favouring an alternative path.

"I'm not quite sure about the Thorndon," he said. "It is set weights and penalties and I am not sure how he is going to get treated.

"We have late nominated him for the Telegraph (Gr.1, 1200m). He could possibly run there and then go to the sprint (Gr.1 BCD Sprint, 1400m) at Waikato, but we are not 100 percent sure yet.

"We will just get through Saturday's race and assess where we go after that."

Meanwhile, in-form Waikato jockey Ryan Elliot hopes to be celebrating his first taste of black-type success for the season when he has Christmas with his family in Levin.

Elliot's big hopes of changing his black-type luck this weekend rest with the rising star Rock On Wood, part-owned and trained by his mother, Leanne Elliot, in the Manawatu Challenge Stakes. Elliot will also ride Concert Hall in the Gr.3 Aberdeen on Broadway Manawatu Cup (2300m).

Iain Hyndman's Awapuni Tips
1: Arturo, Stumpy, Saignon
2: Piaggio, Escudo, Platinum Dubai
3: Marsapone, Trifolium, Rhaegar
4: Portland Jimmy, Hartley, Sinarahma
5: Rex Royale, Beached As Bro, All In Stitches
6: Concert Hall, Toms, Yatima
7: Shadows Cast, Rock On Wood, Kiwi Ida
8: Overthetop, Du'blues, Enrichment
Best Bet: Concert Hall (R6)

– NZ Racing Desk