New wonders for smart Wanganui horse

NEW WONDERS: Fresh options are being considered for star Wanganui sprinter Start Wondering. PHOTO/Race Images

Hong Kong is among the options the connections of the multiple Group One winner Start Wondering are mulling over.

The Gr.1 Chairman's Sprint Prize to be run over 1200 metres at Sha Tin on May 7 for a stake of $HK14 million (about $NZ2.6 million) is one race under consideration for the Wanganui galloper.

Part of the Global Sprint Challenge series, it was won last year by the Australian galloper Chautauqua.

"There's options for the horse and he's back in the stable now in case he is going to Hong Kong," said Evan Rayner, who trains the six-year-old with his daughter JJ for Wanganui owner Stephen Gudsell.

The Doomben 10,000 on May 27 is another overseas race in the mix for Start Wondering, who enjoyed a break following his runner-up finish in the Gr.1 Haunui Farm Classic.

The Otaki race closed a campaign that saw him win the Gr.1 Railway Stakes, the Gr.1 NRM Sprint and the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint. He was also a close second in the Gr.1 Telegraph.

Completing the all-Wanganui affair is regular rider Jonathan Parkes.

Meanwhile, the immediate future of Start Wondering's promising stablemate Regal Winks is also yet to be confirmed.

"I've been looking for a three-year-old race over 1400 metres for her, but there's nothing about for five weeks," Rayner said. "Other than that we have to run against the older horses."

The Rip Van Winkle filly was a debut winner at Wanganui and then kept another clean sheet at Hawera.

"We didn't need to trial her, she's always been competitive," Rayner said.
"I galloped her with a mate one morning and she went that hard that we never gallop her in company now."