A successful season is nearing a close for Cody Cole and the Matamata trainer has three strong chances to extend his personal best tally of winners on Wednesday at Pukekohe Park.
Among Cole’s 24 wins this term, a career-best figure after recording 23 last season, was Renegade Rebel’s (NZ) (El Roca) Listed Gingernuts Salver (2100m) victory in January, assisting in his $765,695 in stakes earnings.
Gerry Harvey’s colours have figured prominently in Cole’s success, and Part Time Lover (NZ) (Swiss Ace) will aim to add another win for the combination when she contests the Acknowledging ATR Partners 1200 on Wednesday.
The daughter of Swiss Ace was eye-catching when breaking maidens at Woodville early last month ahead of Knights Realm (NZ) (Castledale), who has won two subsequent races, while Part Time Lover finished fourth in her sole appearance since.
“She was probably just a touch disappointing at Te Rapa last start, seeing what the second horse from Woodville has done since,” Cole said.
“I think the long trip down to Woodville with a two-week backup may have just knocked her around a little bit and she didn’t quite perform up to her best.
“Her work indicates she’ll take some beating on Wednesday, and if the best version of her turns up, she’s got to be one of our better chances.
“Being the end of the day in those conditions is a question mark, but she’s proven on heavy although maybe not quite this testing.”
Fast-improving filly Rareza (NZ) (Exosphere) showed her potential when narrowly falling short to three-race winner Pokuru Gold (NZ) (Darci Brahma) over 1200m last start, and she will face a step-up in distance in the Auckland Co-Op Taxis 1400.
“She was super in her last run, she ran into a pretty nice horse there,” Cole said.
“Parmar (Niranjan Parmar, jockey) said she actually had a bit more left but just hit the front, knocked off and wasn’t able to pick back up again.
“She’s up to 1400 which I think will suit her, hopefully the track isn’t out of her range being a bit wetter than she’s run on before. If she cops that and runs up to her work, she should be a pretty good chance.
“She’s still a work in progress, I don’t think we’ll see the best of her for another preparation or two yet.”
Completing Cole’s representatives will be Camden (NZ) (El Roca), another Harvey-bred and owned filly who made a strong impression with a luckless trip on debut and will step out over the mile.
“She went really well on debut, she was four-wide in the open at Taupo and didn’t give it away. She’s got that real toughness about her and I think that’ll take her a long way on the heavy going,” Cole said.
“She’s a super genuine filly and she’ll be another that’ll be better next preparation, the penny hasn’t quite dropped yet but she’s a runner’s chance on Wednesday.”
Cole will enjoy a rare weekend away from the races following the midweek meeting, with the focus now with his spring prospects, including the return of stakes-placed juvenile Renovations (NZ) (Ardrossan) and promising four-year-old Navigator (NZ) (El Roca).
“At this stage, we’ll have nothing running over the weekend and are just about shut down for the season now. We’ve got a handful left to race, then we’ll be looking forward to the Hawke’s Bay carnival,” he said.
“Renovations came back into the stable last week and she’s one we are really looking forward to this spring. Navigator is also coming back this week, and Kind Thoughts is looking for good tracks, so she’ll be out for a few more weeks yet.
“We’ve got some younger types that look to have good upside, so fingers crossed we’re in for a good season.”
