VIVACIOUS contests the Open 1400 event with Stable Apprentice, Hayley Hassman, claiming 2kgs to ride – Race 3 @ 1.19pm – impressive when winning on resuming 1200m this track 4th March R75 Grade  – up in grade here but carries a featherweight   – is  in career best condition and looks very well placed here to make it two in a row – TAB says  “Has won second up in the past and is capable of building on that record – drops in weight, so go again” – Showing Odds of  $3.50/$1.40

MAROKOPA FALLS lines up in the R65 1200 event down the Riccarton chute with Stable Apprentice, Hayley Hassman, claiming 2kgs to ride – Race 5 @ 2.28pm – a strong winner on debut as a 2yo in November 2024, “Linda” has yet to greet the judge since, despite performing with credit with things just not going her way at times – is  in great order and racing well – gets the right race here with conditions to suit and is a genuine top 3 chance -TAB says  “has beaten some handy Fillies this season and has raced with distinction in better fields than she meets here – stick with her” – Showing Odds of  $4.20/$1.70

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Other News

 Fortuna Shares Available – Karaka Book One Yearling  by CIRCUS MAXIMUS out of ASAMA BLUE 

Victoria Jumps season gets under way Thursday 26th March at Warrnambool – the Fortuna runners Leaderboard and Malborough Bay will be  there

Marlborough Bay is at the opposite end of the spectrum, now a six-year-old, he has only had one jumps race to date, that being a hurdle event at Te Aroha in July of last year where he finished third, but probably could have won the race if he had not bungled the final jump – he has had two jumps trials in Victoria to prepare for his debut hurdles event in Victoria over 3200 m and his work and demeanor suggest that he is going to make his mark. A strong performer in flat racing  (6 career wins) in NZ indicates that his speed on the flat, combined with a natural aptitude for the jumping game, may well hold the key for a lucrative time of it in jumps racing over the next few seasons

Guest Commentator – Des Coppins

Good morning John and Fortuna followers.

The racing spotlight falls on Trentham for the next couple of Saturdays with black type races galore including the NZ Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes and the Courtesy Ford Sires Produce both at group one level on Saturday week. This Saturday it’s all about the Wellington Guineas, the Lightning and the time honoured NZ St Leger. The weather forecast looks favourable all the way through to the end of of the month which is great news.

TRENTHAM TRACK MAINTENANCE

The Trentham course is going for some much needed TLC after the Sires Produce Stakes meeting. The plan is to work on the track for 10 weeks which will help maintain its integrity and ensure that it can make it through the tough winter season which kicks off on June 6 for the Manawatu Steeplechase and Awapuni Hurdles before the Grant Plumbing Wellington Steeples Day at the end of the month of June.

Over the past 7 months Trentham has hosted a significant amount of race days, a period that started on September 20 and has gone through to March 28, a total of 12 meetings. Last year Trentham hosted 1451 horses over 16 meetings, 139 races and 29 group and listed races, three of which were run during April to the June period the club is shutting things down for.

This year, as of March 1, Trentham has hosted a total of 10 meetings ( with Saturday and Saturday week still to come) with 85 races won and a total of 944 horses that have run on the course proper, with an overall total of 26 group and listed race. Although these numbers are down from last year, without the shut down period, it is still the same volume and with roughly 3 meetings a month, this doesn’t leave much time for the track to properly recover, which ultimately may hinder the overall integrity and performance of the track itself.

Understanding this and listening to the expert advice of the Trentham track curator Jamie Phillips, who explains vividly that the track is “tired”, it is therefore in the best interest for the track to be “freshened.”
Jamie’s plans are as follows:

• He will first start by heavily scarifying the track – this is the process in which any dead, drying or unwanted organic matter is removed, helping to ensure that the organic matter that remains is of the highest quality suitable for racing.
• Following on from this he intends to circumnavigate the track with the Verti-Quake, a machine that is designed to de compact soil and improve the health of the turf by improving water infiltration and air flow to the remaining organic material.
• The next step in the process is to hit the track with the Verti-Drain – this will aim to create air pockets in the turf that will significantly improve and strengthen the root health of the organic matter on the track, overall ensuring that the lifespan of the track itself is further increased.
• The final step in the process is to go over the track and under-sow new organic matter. This will aim to fill in the heavily scarified areas of the track where organic matter is at its weakest while in other areas it will help to boost density which also helps to reduce the unwanted growth of other organic materials. This process will result in an increase of the overall soil health and the integrity of the track.

This whole process is planned to take the length of the break between next Saturday and raceday resumption in  early June with a much needed process that will help Trentham long term and assist in ensuring great racing continues on the champagne turf for an indefinite period.

DID YOU KNOW THAT?

1. James McDonald’s first group one was two weeks short of 18 years ago when winning the NZ Throughbred Breeders Stakes at Te Aroha on Special Mission for Peter McKay. To think he’s now a three-peat world famous jockey and ready break Damien Oliver’s all time record of 129. He sits on 128 and on the big Golden Slipper stage on Saturday he should at least equal if not better the record.

2. Brian Anderton rode his first winner at the now defunct Beaumont track with White Robe in 1950 when he was 13 years old. White Robe gave him his first winning ride at Wyndham a couple of months before. On Sunday he trained his 7th Publicans Cup winner for the Beaumont club on his home track, Wingatui. It was back in 1987 when Beaumont races shifted to Wingatui.

3. Irrigating tracks is a balancing act and it’s hard to work out why some tracks are racing on heavy surfaces when the rain falls have been minimal. Good examples in the last couple of weeks have been New Plymouth, Tauranga and Wanganui. Wanganui had 8mls in the 24 hours before race day and no rain in the previous 6 days. Tauranga had 17mils in the week before Thursday and another 7 or 8 mils between Thursday and Saturday and New Plymouth the week prior had 12 mils in the 5 days preceding its meeting.

4. Isn’t it amazing yet sad at the same time when you consider how  well the NZ St Leger has played its part as either a lead in or an aftermath to the Wellington Cup. In my time the likes of Guest Star, Secured Deposit, Imaprince, Waisake, Leaderboard and Wolfgang have all won both. The sadness comes with the fact it’s only a listed race these days unlike its English equivalent which is and will always be a group one race. Mind you we simply just don’t have the genuine stayers in significant depth  anymore. The Silver Knights and Dalrays of many years gone by were not only St Leger winners but they were Melbourne Cup winners, too!

5. The stake money won this season between the Mark Walker/Sam Bergerson combination and Stephen Marsh on the Trainers premiership  table is less than $110,000 with both raking up over $6m or more with still 4 months to play, Both teams have done a sterling  job but the interesting thing is that while Stephen may not catch Mark/Sam on races won he still has  every chance to win the stakes money race for the first time and better his very best set last season with $6,9000 won. He has around $500,000 to go.

IMPROVERS OR UNLUCKY LAST TIME

SOUTHERN CHILLI; in the 1400m for the r65 class at Tauranga this galloper didn’t get the clear air the jockey would have hoped for. The track conditions weren’t an issue which augurs well going forward.
CHATTAHOOCHEE: invariably strikes form at this time of the year. It’s still reasonably fresh on a new campaign and it looked one of the unlucky runs in the home straight of the Japan Trophy.
COULTHARD; hasn’t had much luck in its racing of late and again at Wanganui it had trouble clearing traffic in the straight.

Good punting!

Ps Enquiries are coming in on a daily basis for my 37th Melbourne Cup Tour with top jockey Lisa Allpress.
If you would like to join us and around 70 or 80 like minded people on the 5-day or 8-day tour with so many attractive add ons please  drop me a line dcoppins@xtra.co.nz and I’ll get one of the experienced travel brokers at Sporting Tours to immediately follow up.

Click HERE to see Des’  Melbourne Cup Flyer with all details

Des Coppins
021 448 052

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