Horses To Follow 2011/12

Incredibly its less than 60 sleeps till the first day of the Hawkes Bay Spring Carnival so its  time we took a look at some horses who showed enough to be backed with confidence for 2011/12.

Kekova: Kekova was very consistent throughout her inaugural six start campaign, culminating in a competitive Te Rapa maiden win at her final start for the season. Typical of the progeny of her sire Elusive City, she handles most types of tracks and looks best suited between 1200 and 1400m. An attractive looking three-year-old filly with some length, if she has one confirmation fault it is a lack of length in her front cannons. With her ability to race on the speed and find plenty in a finish she should easily win a couple more races but has yet to show the turn of foot to win in Pattern company.

Aldebaran Star: Tall and rangy son of No Excuse Needed who despite his physical immaturity made good progress this season at three. Aldebaran Star is a half brother to Telegraph Handicap runner-up Tootsie but is physically a different type all together to his Pins sister, and judging by the way he finished off his 1400m assignments this season he looks ideally suited to a mile and with some furnishing, possibly further with time.Well placed by his connections - who include part owner, jockey Jonathan Riddell - the gutsy chestnut looks capable of taking a higher rating in the seasons ahead.

Beejay Belle: For such a natural two-year-old himself, some will question the progress Perfectly Ready's youngsters have made this season however the promise shown by this filly and the fact that a number of his 21 starters looked capable of physical improvement entitle him to some grace from breeders and yearling buyers.
The manner of Beejay Belle's win on debut, when under a ride 600m from home, initially cast a slight doubt on her genuineness but in hindsight it may well have deserved quite a contrary response and she was probably just lacking race fitness and racing on heart. Her next two starts produced fast finishing seconds, the later in the Matamata Breeders where she lost little in comparison to the winner Anabandana, while her final start for the season in the Sires at Awapuni is best ignored after getting back on a day when nothing made ground from off the speed and then striking interference in the straight. A filly who always hit the line hard indicating that 1600m should hold no fears next season.

Hold It Harvey: Tough and versatile southerner who seems to get better with time. Chased our best all over the country between a mile and 2000m from spring till autumn and although most of the usual suspects had gone to the paddock, his wins at his final two starts for the season in the Thompson and Awapuni Gold Cup were so comprehensive and accomplished with a tremendous turn of foot over the closing stages that the likes of Wall Street and Keep The Peace would had to have been at their peak to hold him out. This season's wfa ranks were not strong and with many of our outstanding crop of three-year-old fillies targeting Australia, the situation next season should not be any different, giving the King Cugat seven-year every chance to secure that elusive group one success.

Planet Rock: A $295,000 Karaka yearling, Planet Rock debuted at Trentham over 1000m in December, narrowly going under to another first starter in Super Easy, after laying out slightly in the closing stages. She then came north to chase a start in the Karaka Million and burst into clear favouritism for the rich race with an outstanding winning performance at Ellerslie in mid January, coming from well off the pace at the 300m to score effortlessly. She ran third in the Million itself, finishing just in front of Super Easy who had a much tougher run. Given that she was stepping up significantly in class and taking a line through Super Easy's finish, her run could on face value be seen as true to form but it's also highly conceivable that she had improved significantly with raceday experience from Trentham and that in fact the Ellerslie track on Million night, made shifty from afternoon showers, blunted her big finish. While extremely athletic, the tall daughter of Fastnet Rock still looked the type to improve a great deal physically from two to three and she looks the testing material for Anabandana next season between 1400 and 1600m.

Alvesta: An 800m scurry often conducted on a heavy track hardly sounds like much of a form guide, yet the two-year-old race on the Wanganui Guineas card has produced it's share of talent. Who will forget the 1994 edition when Our Maizcay beat a game Ballroom Babe with eight lengths to the third horse. Whether this years victor Alvesta is in their league is unlikely but his six length stroll to beat subsequent stakeswinner and group one placed Antonio Lombardo and Karaka Million winner Fort Lincoln, makes him a fair sort of horse. A season ending injury suffered two weeks later in Sydney when preparing for a stakes race meant he was not sighted again and although by a sire whose stock can have a tendency to not train on, he has a bit of length and leg about him to suggest he should at least measure up at three, although the distances of the Guineas races are likely to find him out.

Rockburn: Tall and slow maturing son of Thorn Park who debuted this season at four and immediately showed his class with a win on debut at Taupo, running the quickest time of the day of four 1200m events, including a R80 contest, before another success two starts later on a Premier Day at Awapuni. Takes a long slightly extravagant stride and understandably was not suited by the shifty Ellerslie track at his final start for the season after been galloped on at his penultimate start. Fits the profile of another patiently handled son of Thorn Park in Veyron, and conceivably he too could end up a chance in a group race at a mile.

So Divine: A fast finishing fourth on debut followed by an easy win over 1600m had the dogs barking but the company in hindsight was not strong. She then ran third to Starcheeka at Trentham over 1600m however her next start effort for third to the same horse in the Oaks Stud Classic was a significant upgrade in performance, with the increase to 2000m the key. Her effort to make-up considerable ground from the rear was arguably the standout performance on a high class card. She then travelled to Christchurch where she ran a close and luckless third in the Warstep, before going to the paddock. Missing the Oaks may have been a blessing as she was not overly furnished for such a tough assignment. Hunterville breeder Brian Lamp already has one of the sale ring bargains, stealing the sister to dual group one winner Monaco Consul for just $9000 and there should be plenty more upside to come.

Fleur De Lune: Another member of a vintage three-year-old filly crop; she quickly went through the classes with sharp acceleration late in the stretch a trademark of the three wins from her first four starts. An unlucky second to Veyron, beaten a head with four lengths to Gendarme, preceded a start in the Group One Breeders Stakes. Belying her 30-1 odds, the filly ran the gamest of thirds at Te Aroha, beaten a head and neck, with fellow three-year-old Smoulder second. She backed up a month later in a listed event over 1400m at Rotorua on a heavy track, only to be nabbed close to home by Dowager Queen who was in receipt of 9kg. Typical of the better Stravinsky's she is of medium height and length, but strongly made. While she ran the 1600m right out at Te Aroha it would not surprise to see her dropping back in distance and tackling races like the Railway and Telegraph next season.

Safari: A compact five-year-old sprinting son of the disappointing Jungle Pocket, whose local stock have tended to have more of a predisposition towards the middle distances. Still prone to a bout or two of greenness, which cost him at least a race this season, he still managed this season to take his record to three wins from seven starts and showed his ringcraft maybe improving by navigating through some tight quarters on his final start for the season to beat a very strong R70 field on Hawkes Bay Cup day.Will start the season on a low 68 rating but with his sharp turn of foot, you would expect him to move just as swiftly through the grades.

Booming: Its rare to see a staying horse, even a placegetter in an Auckland Cup, win over 1200m and on reflection the performance of Booming to win freshup over a handy field of R90 sprinters at Awapuni should have signalled that the big son of Don Eduardo was in for a somewhat extraordinary season. But even a win two starts later in the 2000m Zabeel Classic at 13-1 couldn't have prepared even his most ardent supporters for what was to occur next in the Thorndon Mile, when with 57kgs he quickened like a leading sprinter to charge through on the rails and take the group one handicap. Connections are apparently eyeing the Melbourne Cup and if he can continue with the level of improvement shown this season, they should do so with some optimism.

Pussy O'Reilly: The beautifully bred Pussy O'Reilly was limited to just two starts at two, finishing second on debut at Pukekohe in December, before returning in April to win a competitive contest at Te Rapa. A feature of both her starts was her last 200m, especially at Te Rapa where she seemed to have learnt from the race and trials experience and stretched out with a lovely pendulum like action over the closing stages. There were some promising types in the later event and it should prove a strong form race - one of the few to start again, the well beaten fourth place getter Under The Sun came out and won impressively at his next start. Typical of many O'Reilly's she did not look and race like a natural two-year-old. Octapussy, the mother of Pussy O'Reilly did not start as a two-year-old and finally achieved black type as a six-year-old, while her sire has only left one stakeswinning two-year-old filly - Shamrocker, successful in the 2010 Group Two VRC Sires Produce.

Narrowly missing the cut were, Letmeby, Cap Eden Roc, Phar Cry, Super Easy, Nuits St George, On The Level (again) and Kiwi Lady (how many three-year-old fillies can one have).