Ellerslie’s Saturday meeting will mark the start of a career for one exciting Tony Pike-trained galloper in Storm Front (NZ) (Snitzel), while another, Not Guilty (NZ) (Not A Single Doubt), will commence her final campaign on the racetrack.
The winner of last year’s Listed Pegasus Stakes (1000m), alongside multiple placings at Listed and Group Three level, Not Guilty has been a consistent campaigner in the Pike stable, and with nothing left to prove, has been put in foal.
“She’s a stakes winner and has been a very good mare to us over the past couple of seasons,” Pike said.
“She’s a very well-bred mare and we decided it is probably the right time to send her to stud, she couldn’t achieve too much more on the track.
“Her work since she’s been in-foal has been exceptional, often these mares do improve when they are in-foal so this seemed like a nice race to kick her preparation off with.
“If she finds some good form, we’ll carry on through the summer with her before she heads to the broodmare paddock. There’s a lot of nice stakes races coming up, so we’ll take it race by race.”
The daughter of Not A Single Doubt will line-up in the Barfoot And Thompson 1200 alongside Impendabelle, who won the Gr.2 Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) at the meeting last season.
Impendabelle went on to finish second behind Molly Bloom in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m), third in the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m), and third in the Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m).
“It’s difficult for these three-year-olds coming back at four, it will be interesting to see where she heads and we’ll get a line on that after Saturday,” Pike said.
“This will probably be a touch short for her at the 1200 and a bit of an awkward draw (7), but as long as she’s finding the line well, she’s in the same boat with plenty of nice fillies and mares races coming up within her distance range.”
Later on the Ellerslie card, juvenile colt Storm Front will aim to build on an impressive trial victory at the venue last month when taking his place in the Dunstan Horsefeeds 1100.
The well-bred son of Snitzel was a $400,000 yearling purchase at Karaka, with his dam, Indecision, a three-time Listed winner and Group Three placegetter in Pike’s care.
“He’s progressed really nicely from that trial, he went to Ellerslie for a track gallop on Saturday before the first race and worked very well again,” he said.
“He’s a talented two-year-old, I think he will be better probably as he matures further but at this stage, he’s shown enough to be competitive on debut.”
Pike has also accepted with fellow trial winner Grocer’s Deelight, however, he indicated the filly may be more likely to head to Trentham on Sunday for the two-year-old contest over 900m.
“She’s a really nice filly by Dundeel, she was impressive in her trial at Te Awamutu,” he said.
“She’s also entered at Wellington, we’ll just make that decision on Friday afternoon depending on the weather forecast down there. We are leaning towards heading down there if the track is okay, but if not, she’ll head to Ellerslie.
“She’s a really nice-actioned filly and looks an exciting prospect heading into the latter part of the two-year-old season.
“With the fillies, we’ve used this path a couple of times, using this race at Trentham then heading back for the Wakefield (Gr.2, 1200m). Impendabelle did that two years ago, it just gives them a look down the straight and the experience of a trip away.
“It really helps them grow up mentally going forward into the two-year-old season.”
Pike’s team will be busy with another eight runners across the card, including Ellerslie specialist Rudyard taking his place in the TAB 1600. The five-year-old has won two of his five starts at the course, alongside a placing behind Desert Lightning and Legarto in the $1 million Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic (1600m) in January.
His most recent appearance was an 11th-place finish in the Gr.3 Spring Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa, a performance Pike is happy to look past ahead of Saturday’s assignment.
“He got too far back in that race and he’s not really a Te Rapa fan, it’s a bit shifty for him,” he said.
“On paper, it didn’t look a great run, but it definitely wasn’t that bad.
“Back to Ellerslie is going to be a huge advantage, he’s got an awkward gate (11) to contend with but he always runs well there. Although it’ll be difficult to win from that draw, I’m sure he’ll run well.
“He should be competitive in some of the nice mile races up at Ellerslie through the carnival.”
The Sistema 1400 bookends the programme, with Acquarello, Dimaggio, Cannon Hill and Maldini all engaged in the Rating 75 contest.
The Trelawney Stud-owned Acquarello has an opportunity to make her claim for a Cup Week feature in the race but carries the 59kg topweight under Vinnie Colgan.
“She’s really improved this preparation, she came back from Australia after an injury last season and had a long time off,” Pike said.
“It took us a while to get her fit, but her two runs have been great this time in and she obviously stays in this grade, albeit carrying more weight.
“She’s a very progressive mare going forward and depending on her performance, we’ll make a decision whether to send her down to the Valachi Downs (Gr.3 Canterbury Breeders Stakes, 1400m) for the middle day of the Riccarton carnival.
“All owners of fillies and mares love a bit of black-type, especially stud masters, so that is definitely our intention going through the summer period.”
