Fresh off the high of winning a A$500,000 race in Brisbane with their star mare La Crique, Simon and Katrina Alexander are hoping to keep their winning run going when they head to Trentham on Saturday.
Star jumping stablemates The Cossack and Nedwin will have to cope with the heftiest of imposts on Saturday if they are to repeat their Te Rapa heroics of 12 months ago.
The Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal-trained pair will both have to lump the maximum topweights of 73kg in the Signature Homes Waikato Steeplechase (3900m) and Fairview Motors Waikato Hurdles (3200m) in their respective title defences.
Awapuni trainer Mark Oulaghan is hoping he can get his hand in the till once more this weekend with his top jumper Berry The Cash who will contest the Fairview Motors Waikato Hurdle (3200m) at Te Rapa.
Bargain buy Dusty Road continues to reward his connections and another top showing is expected from the talented performer this weekend.
The genuine son of Shamexpress will bid to further his record for trainer Graeme Cameron, who races the four-year-old with his wife Jacky, in the Mike Stent Decorators Sprint (1200m) at Te Rapa on Saturday.
Target Audience’s New Zealand racing career will be brief, but the youngster made it a memorable one with a debut victory at Cambridge on Wednesday.
Riccarton trainer Michael Pitman is hoping Zoulander has done enough to qualify for a lucrative polytrack target during Riccarton’s Grand National Festival of Racing in August following his win at the synthetic track on Wednesday.
Marroni produced an improved last-start performance in his quest for an overdue return to winning ways.
It’s a case of mission accomplished in Queensland for multiple Group One winner La Crique, who will now head for a spell in the warmer climes of the Sunshine State following her victory in last Saturday’s A$500,000 Magic Millions National Classic (1600m) at Eagle Farm.
Cambridge trainer Samantha Logan is looking forward to her local synthetic meeting on Wednesday where she will be represented by two thirds of her racing team.
Lance Robinson won’t have to trek too far this week, with the Riccarton trainer set to line-up five runners at his home track’s synthetic double-header meetings on Wednesday and Thursday.
Expat Kiwi trainer Simon Dunderdale has spent the last two decades plying his trade around the world, with his latest stop being at Selangor Turf Club in Malaysia.
With the imminent closure of thoroughbred racing in Singapore and racing already having ceased in Macau earlier this year, Malaysia has become a key developing market for the thoroughbred industry in Asia.
