Fireside Favourites

What with the weather and falling stakemoney our racing scene at the moment looks about as bleak as a Shane Jones credit card statement so it's a good time to sit back and remind ones self that we have plenty of promising horses taking a break before the spring. Here are ten that caught my eye; no real criteria just horses that I feel can go onto a better rating next season - without focusing on some of the more obvious suspects.

Single Currency: It's been a while between drinks for trainer Chris Wood but this Bachelor Duke three-year-old looks the type to get the Cambridge conditioner back in the spotlight. Following facile wins at Taupo -on debut - and Hastings, the gelding stepped up to stakes company in a very strong edition of the Arnie Sarten Memorial on Labour Day. Outside the winner Katie Lee I thought Single Currency's effort was the next best in the race; posted three-wide throughout on a good pace and only fading late to be beaten 4.5 lengths into ninth position. It would have been interesting to see where the three start veteran ended up rated amongst the three-year-olds had he stayed in work post Te Rapa.

Lion Tamer: Early season two-year-old form can often be dubious however this seasons early maturing juveniles were a high class bunch as evidenced by their form right through the season and Lion Tamer - winner on debut of the Listed Murdoch Newel in October - although failing in the Manawatu Sires, signed off his season in style with another storming finish to take the Champagne Stakes at Ellerslie in April. Somewhat of a pity the long striding colt wasn't then taken to Sydney for their Champagne Stakes, as the 1600m journey on spacious Randwick and against a less than vintage field would have given the Murray Baker colt every opportunity. The Storming Home colts physical make-up and style of racing suggests he'll only get better at three. A most exciting prospect.

MacCavity: Our two-year-olds rarely match their Australian counterparts for size and strength so imagine my surprise when I found two juveniles who would have stood out in a Golden Slipper lineup making their debuts in a two-year-old maiden at Ellerslie in late March. One of the afore mentioned duo turned out to be the eventual winner The Diamond Duke who post race was singled out for very high praise by his trainer Sean Ritchie, all of which makes the narrowly beaten runner-up and second part of the handsome pair, MacCavity, clearly an interesting prospect for next season. By reputation Roger James rarely has his horses ready to win first-up and judging by MacCavity's appearance in the Ellerslie parade ring he hadn't over taxed the Keeper filly in the build-up to her debut. It's difficult to get a line from one start on what distance MacCavity will excel at and although a half sister to the Australian group-one winning filly Velocitea (by Volksraad) and built like a sprinter, the filly may relish the 1600m of the 1000 Guineas.

Mr Charlie: The Dunstan Stayers Final has been quite some revelation as a form race since it's inception and the narrowest of runner-ups in this years contest Mr Charlie looks set to continue the trend judging by the comprehensive nature of his win just two starts later in the NZ St Leger; although down in quality on recent renewals the Golan gelding won with such ridiculous ease and in one of the quicker times in recent history to suggest he can take the step to major cup handicaps next season.

Blonde Bombshell: thoroughly genuine filly who showed her speed and class when stepping up to stakes company and setting a hectic pace in the Group Two Eight Carat Classic yet still boxing on for third to Katie Lee and Adaline. Although by a noted sire of sprinter-milers, with a bit more maturity and strengthening of her lengthy barrel she's more than capable of running 2000m in group company.

Cellarmaster: should be recognised as the nations leading two-year-old when the awards get handed out in August and deservedly so. A busy customer lining-up on nine occasions between September and finishing with a second placing in the Manawatu Sires in April, the Dubawi colt performed consistently well against the best juveniles on right and left handed tracks and on firm and soft surfaces. While he looked more of a natural two-year-old than most of his contemporaries his sires stock are training on in the NH and close relatives on the female side of his family get better with age notably Second Coming and Our Bahare so he should have scope for further improvement. His natural speed and ability to race on the pace make him an ideal candidate for the early guineas races.

Dullingham: Good horses invariably move like Alberto Junatorena and it was the stride and economy of movement that first attracted me to the son of Pins in a maiden 1600m on the middle day of the Auckland Xmas Carnival; despite finishing down the track in that contest behind the winner Green Supreme, there was sufficient merit in way the four-year-old stretched out between spates of greenness to suggest he wouldnt last long in that class. He next walloped an average maiden field at Hastings by seven lengths before venturing to Wairoa to score an easier than it looked success over the handy Hawkes Bay Cat and Cat Woman. Not seen since, look for the Jim Collett trained gelding to go quickly through to open class if he's not sold to Hong Kong in the meantime.

So Pristine: Slow maturing Zabeel mare who looks set to capitalise from typically patient handling by trainer Richard Collett. Inclined to over race when tried over ground this season and quite claustrophobic when racing in a field the mare has therefore done well to already record three wins especially bred the way she is. With more maturity look for the mare to come into her own next season at five and ultimately get 2000m and further.

Gaston: Strongly made son of Charge Forward who first came to notice when, despite an average beginning - something to which we would become accustomed - he comprehensively won his NZ debut over 1100m, beating the well regarded pair of Thundermore and Rampant in the process. Put aside after failing at his next start in the Guineas at Wanganui on a wet track the gelding returned in late summer for two starts - running third then second at Te Rapa, both in very strong company over 1200m. Possessing a big finishing kick it's likely Gaston will be even better suited by further next season.

Leica Scotch: The subject of quite a bit of spruking by his stable for the 2009 NZ Derby before going badly amiss, the Zabeel gelding resumed this season after a years convalescence and showed enough potential over distances ultimately shorter than his optimum to inspire potential as a cups contender next season.

Others to narrowly miss the cut were Our Ella Belle, Eileen Dubh, On The Level, Ishka Baha, Mr Spock and Veronica Franco.

Ekstreme: Latest Win a Turning Point

Taranaki trained four-year-old mare Ekstreme had already displayed rare ability to transition from three-year-old filly to WFA racing with wins earlier this season in the Group Two Cal Isuzu Stakes and Group One Captain Cook stakes, both at 1600m, but last Saturday weeks facile win in the Group Two Travis Stakes at 2000m could well turn out to be a more significant success as far as the rest of this season and beyond is concerned.

While I wasn't as confident as trainer Bryce Revell who answered äfter 200m" when asked post race at what stage did he feel she had Saturday's feature won, I can't recall the last time I saw a horse travelling so well in a major race.

Wet track form even in stakes races can often be dubious but despite her long odds there was a rare ease about Ekstreme's win in last seasons Lowland Stakes at 2100m on a heavy track that showed her to be well above average and certainly most adept on wet ground.

While her subsequent form has been a little patchy she has never struck the same race conditions until her latest Te Rapa performance. One though must be careful not to define her as a wet tracker, in fact nothing could be more inappropriate for she has also shown rare ability on top of the ground and at distances arguably short of her optimum trip, winning the Captain Cook and the Travis at Te Rapa breaking 1.34 for 1600m.

Stepping up to somewhere near her best trip and striking a decent wet track saw her start a very warm favourite for the Travis Stakes but for the initiated there were still question marks about her ability to relax in the slower tempo of distance racing, a trait that had raised itself in last years Queensland Oaks and was again noticeable in the Zabeel Classic this season. Apparently a notorious puller in trackwork, Ekstreme had a habit that needed breaking if she was to be competitive with the very best at 2000m plus and while she needs to be able to demonstrate this consistently her latest Te Rapa performance is clearly encouraging.

Judging by the noise on course each time Ekstreme wins her owners The Waimea Racing Syndicate sound like they are getting an immense thrill out of racing the high class mare but another very interested party is Hawkes Bay breeder Alan Jackson who purchased Ekstreme's yearling half brother by Mr Nancho and their dam Cashcade privately just before last year's Captain Cook Stakes; Jackson's astute transaction has potential to be even more sweeter if the private reputation of Ekstreme's yet unraced two-year-old half brother Maradona can come to fruition - owned by the same syndicate which raced Tavistock, his trainer Andrew Campbell makes no secret how highly he rates the Mr Nancho colt.

I saw Maradona's yearling full brother (Cashcades third foal) and the second part of Alan Jackson's package purchase at Greg and Jo Griffin's operation on the old Okawa Stud property just before Xmas and while a little plain in appearance -not unlike his half sister - there s a rawboned masculinity about the tough natured gelding who Hastings trainer Patrick Campbell will be entrusted to fine tune when he enters his stable shortly.

As her Captain Cook victory showed Ekstreme is one of the country's leading milers however she indicates from the glimpses we have had of her on a wet track and in the right frame of mind that she is capable of taking an even more significant prize at 2000m with conditions to suit.

Volksraad: Fine Season Continues

Last Sunday's Goodwood Handicap win by Velocitea gave the stallion Volksraad the unique record of having sired group one winners in Australia at 1100, 1200 and 1400m. Dantelah from Volksraad's first crop took the Oakleigh Plate in 1999 and Orange County the Sir Rupert Stakes in 2008.

Volksraad has been taken for granted a little throughout most of his career. At last count he had 54 individual stakewinners and Sunday's success was his 13th individual group one winner.

On track for his eighth NZ Sires Premiership there's a school of opinion that Volksraad's inferior record in Australia stops him from being ranked with the great NZ stallions of his generation but how inferior is that record when you consider it alongside his contemporaries most of whom sire middle distance performers. Volksraad's bread and butter are his sprinter/milers and to compete against their Australian counterparts means taking on arguably the best speed horses in the world in their own backyard.

Granted all three group ones are handicaps but it's still a significant achievement in it's own right and I imagine one would have to go back to the days of Sovereign Edition or possibly even Pakistan 11 to find it's equal.

Pentire: Success as a Broodmare Sire

Both two-year-old events at the two Saturday meetings in NZ were taken out by horses from Pentire mares.

The Bachelor Duke colt Gamble who took the race at Te Rapa is the second foal of the two win mare Penny Hill while the Trentham winner L'Armour is a Towkay filly from the one win mare Penthouse Blue- that mares first foal.

Penny Hill's whose two wins were at 1600m and 2175m ran in the Warstep and Wellington Stakes of her three-year-old season. Penthouse Blue's only success in her 16 start career came over 2100m at Otaki.

The dam of Penthouse Blue is the Shirley Heights mare Juliette Heights - represented by a cracking Don Eduardo colt at Karaka earlier this year - giving L'Armour 3 strains of Mill Reef. I've noticed increasing numbers of Mill Reef duplications in local pedigrees of late.

Pentire's only representation at this weeks National Broodmare Sale at Karaka looks sure to be of interest to pedigree buffs. Placed at 3 this season in Australia the filly Stars is from the famed Mrs Moss family and has a duplication of Mill Reef with her dam by Shirley Heights son Darshaan.

Te Aroha: Possibly Not The Usual From Guide

Breeders Stakes Day at Te Aroha is one of the best days on the calendar and this year's edition was no exception although it would pay to be wary of form particularly out of the supporting card as many of the fields lacked their usual depth and a track bias towards the inside rail played into the hands of on pace runners.

Despite it's long straight Te Aroha has always had a propensity to favour horses racing handy but Saturday was even more pronounced.

Nancho Bella despite laying in, made ground stylishly for third in the juvenile race - she had beaten Macavity in a trial. The few Mr Nancho stock that I've seen all look like they'll be better at three and this filly strikes me as no exception. Of the remainder, Murray Baker debuted a tall weakish son of Australian shuttle stallion Rakti in Arakti who may have some potential if he furnishes while Chris Wood's Scardee Cat filly Party Cat is a nice enough type, with more length and rein than a lot of her sires progeny.

Sam's Town has never been a horse I've particularly warmed too. Apparently he's a bit of a clown and often it shows on race day with performances in the birdcage that would make Fred Astaire proud. He was up to his usual tricks on Saturday but his winning performance showed a touch of class and a fair bit of heart, overcoming a significant check in the home straight yet still powering home to win the R90 sprint despite racing well out of his grade. Rarely without a top class sprinter the Otto stable may have found a capable replacement for the aging Atapi although I'm inclined to think Attackum, who co incidentally won the corresponding race last season, is that heir apparent.

Surely it's only a matter of time before we have another fillies and mares race elevated to group one status. The Breeders is currently our only such race yet year in year out it's depth makes for an exciting contest and a great betting race, which is in stark contrast to some of our group one WFA races. Australia has steadily increased such events and races such as the Coolmore Classic and the Mile on Derby Day a Flemington are always ultra competitive contests drawing the best of the fairer sex.

Keeper is having a great season spearheaded by Keep The Peace and in My Keepsake he looks to have another promising type, joining a burgeoning club that includes Finderskeepers, Tanalised, St Germaine and last weeks Ellerslie debutant Macavity. My Keepsake was the only horse all afternoon to make significant ground in the home straight greater than three horse widths off the inside rail and what was especially pleasing was that her run never faltered, sustained as it was from before the turn, right to the post. You could be in clover if you have a nice Keeper yearling come Karaka Sale time next year should Keep The Peace come up at four and some of his promising progeny take the next step.

Racing is littered with good two and three -year-old's who never recapture that form and many, myself included, were probably consigning Juice to that category before Saturdays performance. Expertly placed by John Wheeler, the daughter of Bertolini arrived at the start line fighting fit from three middle distance lead up runs and aided by a nice draw and a typically heady ride by Hayden Tinsley, she was too good for a very brave Culminate.

The runs of the three-year-olds Obsession and Lady Chaparral were excellent lending more weight that this seasons filly crop are the best for some time.

I won't be getting too carried away with the wins by Tinseltown and The Hombre. The former beat very little and ran three seconds slower than the corresponding event last season while The Hombre - given he was more impressive - still didn't look physically as well as he did last spring and there must still be some doubt about him settling well enough to run the distances of the Rough Habit and the Queensland Derby.

Oriental Lad and Better On Top should be in for lucrative autumn campaigns judging by their encouraging fresh up runs on ground firmer than they refer.

If you've yet to visit the track under the mountain I can thoroughly recommend an excursion for the Breeders and take your togs for a dip at the near by hot pools afterwards.

Ellerslie Prospecting

They may have run a second and a half slower than the other two-year-old race at Ellerslie today but don't be surprised if the race won by The Diamond Duke turns out to be a significantly better guide to three-year-old form next season.

As a race the Legends Fellowship for maiden juveniles was an ordinary affair with the last 600m time of 34.86 hardly noteworthy given the hack tempo of the first half of the contest but one got the impression that the first two horses across the line were far from wound up for their debuts and both certainly possess the breeding and physical makeup to develop into nice prospects for next season.

While Sean Ritchie has deservedly received good press for his emergence as a trainer of real quality this season, his exceptional eye for a yearling has been underplayed slightly by the media with The Diamond Duke another example of this skill. As a $90,000 Karaka Premier yearling, today's winner was considerably more expensive than Military Move, Keep The Peace and My Scotsgrey who all came from the Select Catalogue, but given Ritchie's success it's not hard to predict him having a significantly larger budget when he shops at Karaka next summer.

It's not difficult to understand why The Diamond Duke fetched the equal top price for progeny of his sire Bachelor Duke at last year's Karaka Sales. He's imposing to say the least with a good deal of his dam sire Seattle Slew about him,; probably already 16.1 hands going on 16.2, but well put together and balanced like so many of the good Bachelor Dukes.

As a type he's a typical Ritchie purchase, good sized but athletic with plenty of rein.

The gelding has plenty going for him on pedigree too with his dam the unraced Volksraad mare Doneze Girl a half sister to the highly talented but injury plagued Diamond Deck, who in turn is a three quarter sister to the champion racehorse and now emerging sire Lohnro.

Macavity, the runner-up to The Diamond Duke is also a most striking individual. She's a very well built filly particularly through the neck , shoulder and hindquarter, physical traits more in common with her maternal grand sire than her sire Keeper.

Cat Shmea the dam of Macavity looks an exciting broodmare prospect. Her first foal Velocitea by Volksraad has really found form as a four-year-old mare in Melbourne this season winning twice at group 3 level before a last start second in group one company in Adelaide.

A daughter of the disappointing Storm Cat stallion Felix the Cat, Cat Shmea was a handy three-year-old filly in the South Island winning three times and running third on a wet track in a listed Filly of the Year event at Wingatui. While Cat Shmea's female family would be considered only Festival Sale quality it is a nice blend of stamina and soundness through the presence of successive dam sires Beaufort Sea, Super Gray and Bellborough; the later a particularly underrated presence, featuring as he does in the pedigrees of the likes of Starcraft, Zeditave, Jet Spur and Taras Bulba.

From stables not known for producing two-year-old's and as types certain to improve at three in line with their sires typical get, The Diamond Duke and Macavity are two interesting prospects for next season.

Castelli: Rosehill Guineas win spotlights cheap sire

The phone of Levin studmaster Paul Hobbs deserves to ring more frequently this breeding season. Paul stands Rosehill Guineas winner Zabrasive's lightly raced half brother Castelli and last season the son of Galileo served just 13 mares, most belonging to the stallions majority owner, Hawkes Bay's Lawrence Redshaw.

For those of you with good memories the Murray Baker trained Castelli created enough of an impression in three starts here in the early spring of 2006 to at one stage hold a single figure quote for that seasons VRC Derby.

Unfortunately the colt never made it the Derby after chips in a knee were discovered following a second placing to Old Belvedere over 1600m at Hastings on Mudgeway Stakes day. Ultimately the injury saw the stallion never return to the racetrack, going to stud in 2008 after failing to stand two further training preparations.

Retiring with a sole maiden win (at 1400m) on a slow track from three starts and being a son of Galileo is not a recipe for attracting mares, particularly in this part of the world after Galileo's very disappointing shuttle service to Australia, but the stallion looks good value at his $1,000 service fee.

Castelli is the first foal of his Danehill stakeswinning and group one placed dam Danasia - Zabrasive is the mares fourth foal. As a son of Galileo and with staying influences further back in his female family such as Persian Bold, Exbury (Zammazan's sire), and the former Fairdale stallion Kings Island, Castelli won't sire Karaka Million runners however he showed enough tactical speed in his short racing career to that suggest that with the right type of mare getting an early three-year-old to the races won't be out of the question.

The odds of Castelli making it as a stallion are extremely slim but with his pedigree, the glimpse we got of his ability on the racetrack and a reinvigorated market for staying types, he's a better gamble than a number of his colleagues out there pitched in a similar price bracket.

I gather Windsor Park may agist some Castelli weanlings for a client; if that is the case I shall make a point of dropping in when I'm next down in Cambridge. Even at $1,000 you need to do your homework thoroughly and I recall seeing a couple of Castelli's immediate family as yearlings and they were not impressive types. For instance Zabrasive at Karaka was quite light and a poor walker.