Our Absolute (NZ) (Niagara) continued a memorable season for trainers Robyn and Russell Rogers when she was runner-up in the Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) at Te Rapa a fortnight ago.
The result added some valuable black-type to her pedigree page, also achieved by stablemate Zecora (NZ) (Power), who won the Gr.3 J Swap Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa in December.
The Kendayla Park principals bred and part-own both horses and were particularly excited for Our Absolute’s part-owners Trudy Thornton and Lynsey Satherley, with the latter having ridden the daughter of Niagara to the black-type result.
“We were really happy with her last run, and I think she has improved again since then,” Robyn Rogers said.
“It (black-type) is always really important being a filly. Because we bred her, we have got a lot of the family, so you get a multiple positive factor when something can poke its nose in and get some black-type.
“That was such a good field in the Breeders’, we were just hoping she would run in the first six, it was a really nice surprise to see her be so close at the end.
“Trudy was the first one to ring us that morning to wish us luck and then ring and congratulate us. It was great for Trudy but especially for Lynsey, who now does all the work on her. She is a tough little filly.”
The plan was to head to Arawa Park on Saturday to tackle the Gr.3 Rotorua ITM Stakes (1400m) with Our Absolute, however, the Rogers’ elected to change tack and head to the Van Dyks 3YO (1400m) with their filly on the undercard instead.
“We hummed and hawed whether we would put her in the weight-for-age race, that was originally our target,” Rogers said. “Then we heard of a few others that were going there and we thought that was going to be really strong and this was a nice option, being a three-year-old race on the same day.
“She is not going to get too many more three-year-old races before the end of the season, so we opted to go that way.
“It is still a strong race, there are quite a few in there that you wouldn’t be surprised if they won.”
Rogers said she is happy with her filly, and while she does think she will handle the Rotorua track this weekend, the unknown of competing at Arawa Park remains a concern for the Waikato horsewoman.
“The only concern is that she has never raced at Rotorua – some horses love Rotorua and some don’t,” she said. “I don’t know if she will love the track or not. She jumps, puts herself in the race, and she is great in that respect. If anything was going to like Rotorua, you would think she would, but you never know.
“I think quite a few are in the same boat about Rotorua, so it will be about who handles it on the day.”
Following Saturday’s run, Rogers said Our Absolute will likely have one more run at Ruakaka before heading to the spelling paddock.
“Originally we were thinking this might be it, but she is still very bouncy and very well,” she said. “We may look at a couple of three-year-old races coming up at Ruakaka where the ground is always a bit better up there.
“Now that she has got a bit of black-type, that takes some pressure off. You would always like to improve on that and win a black-type race, but that is very hard to do. She has done all of this on one prep really – she went to the breakers and came out and then started racing and has kept going. She has quite exceeded our expectations of what she would do this prep. As soon as she tells us she is a little bit tired, she will go to the paddock.”
Group Three-winning stablemate Zecora is enjoying her time in the spelling paddock and Rogers said they are still contemplating whether she will return to the track in the spring or be offered to the public as a broodmare prospect ahead of the upcoming breeding season.
“We are still tossing up whether we will bring her back for another prep or we might look at selling her as a broodmare, now that she has got her black-type win,” Rogers said.
“She went to the paddock feeling very full of herself and watching her gallop around the paddock now, I think she is ready to come back into work, but whether we do or not, we haven’t made that decision yet.”
