My Summer Six

We didn't do too badly last year selecting six to follow over the summer months so let s go again. Our older staying and sprinting ranks are devoid of any real depth this season so I can see our neighbours from across the ditch taking home the thick end of the Railway and Telegraph purses however Booming and rising talent Innocent Lady should test any comers in the Cups.

Nippin: caught the eye as a stayer of some promise with the way he attacked the line when breaking his maiden over 1400m in late October at New Plymouth - at just his second start. The son of Pins from a high class female middle distance family was unlucky at his next start, also over 1400m; just failing to run down the highly promising Kiwi Lady, after struggling to find clear galloping room until well into the Trentham straight. Holds a nomination for the New Zealand Derby and has the racing profile and pedigree to make the start line at Ellerslie on the first Saturday in March.

Innocent Lady: one of those mares who sometimes grow another leg during spring and early summer as the combination of sunshine and natural strengthening with age lift their form many lengths. It takes a good horse to break 2.16 for 2200m at Ellerslie these days but Innocent Lady accomplished that easily when dealing to a decent enough rating 80 field in mid November before coming out at Te Rapa on Saturday and scoring a facile win in a rating 90 2400m with 58kgs. When her usually conservative trainer labels her a significantly better staying prospect than his dual Auckland Cup winning mare Prized Lady, it pays to sit up and take note. A major player in races such as the City of Auckland and Wellington Cups during January.

Keenly: may have slipped under the radar of a few when quietly fashioning a decent record away from stakes company in October and November but the form around those performances and the way the daughter of Keeninsky from a Zabeel mare has been finding the line over those 1400m - 1600m assignments suggest the Robert Priscott trained filly should be ultra-competitive in races such as the Eight Carat and Royal Stakes over New Year even allowing for the real depth in our three-year-old filly crop this season.

Kings Rose: If the interference suffered by We Can Say It Now and the fallout from the Magic Briar interference seemed to overshadow Kings Rose's tough performance to win in the 1000 Guineas then her emphatic win in last Saturdays Eulogy Stakes after sitting three wide for a greater part of the 1600m contest should have silenced any doubting her true class. With WCSIN seemingly set to target WFA racing at home before a possible Australian campaign, Kings Rose looks to have a mortgage on the remaining Filly Of The Year races and this weeks announcement that she may target the New Zealand Derby should have put a shiver down the spine of connections of the leading Derby contenders. At $12 currently in the Derby market the temptation will be too great for a number of Futures players who will know all too well that should she line-up her odds will conceivably one-third of the current quote.

Leica Scotch: With justification some of you maybe feeling that this chap is becoming one of those sucker horses who roar home early in their campaigns over seemingly unsuitable distances going by the horses pedigree and racing pattern; doing enough for you to withdraw your superannuation and re mortgage your mother-in-laws home, only for you to find that those late finishing bursts fail to translate into success in supposedly more suitable races. In other words he is what is commonly referred to in racing circles as a "gunna". But in fairness to Leica Scotch he has had his share of problems throughout his abbreviated 12 race career, although at five years of age and well down the handicappers ratings the Zabeel gelding is never going to get a better chance to live up to the high opinion the stable has had for him from an early three-year-old. He needs to land a nice PQ race and do it convincingly over the next couple of weeks to have any chance of landing a start in races such as the City of Auckland and Wellington Cups but if he does he can be a legitimate lightweight danger to the likes of Red Ruler, Booming and Innocent Lady.

Planet Rock: The well hyped colt Super Easy was all out to beat Planet Rock when they both made their debuts at Trentham earlier this month. With four and a half lengths to the third horse and a track record to boot it should be a top form guide to two-year racing over the next few months at least. The Fastnet Rock filly also didn't help herself by wanting to lay out for a greater part of the straight while the winner went as straight as a pool-cue. Befitting a $280,000 yearling buy the filly is an athletic sort with plenty of physical scope to improve, which when married with the experience gained from more racing should make the Christchurch trained filly very competitive against the best juvenile company.

Near misses for the six-pack were On The Level and Fireside.

Away from town-hall company but a few with their foot firmly on the till at the moment are Billy Bingo, Punt Hill (particularly if we get some rain), Platinum Princess, Diamonds In Time and Elite Street.

Just to finish I got along to Ellerslie last Sunday mainly to see if there were any horses in the Championship Stakes who could be legitimate contenders for the Derby in March. While the winner won well I feel he beat very little and he needs to find another 2 lengths to be competitive. If there was a horse on the card that took my eye it was the Keeninsky gelding Rimsky - he really picked-up in the straight and looks a lovely genuine type with maybe a touch of something.