Cody Cole is hopeful that his promising mare Kind Thoughts will have her chance at stakes glory in Saturday’s Listed James Bull Rangitikei Cup (1600m) at Trentham.
The talented daughter of Tarzino has scarcely put a foot wrong in her short career, posting two victories and two seconds from five attempts, most recently surprising the Matamata trainer with a success fresh-up at Ruakaka on May 1.
“I was really happy with her, she wasn’t anywhere near ready for that race, but we thought we’d just go around for a run, and she just had too much class for them winning it quite easily,” Cole said.
“She’s a real staying mare that doesn’t take a lot of work once she’s up and got her fitness. We haven’t done a whole lot with her since then, but her work on Tuesday was really good and I couldn’t fault her.”
Rated at 68, the four-year-old fell just short of making the field for the feature but needs only one scratching to take her place under regular rider Matt Cameron.
“She loves Trentham, she loves the big straight so fingers crossed we can get a start,” Cole said.
“Matt will just let the speed unfold and get back a couple of positions, he’s got the big wide open space so I wouldn’t be worried in she was in the last half of the field in running.
“When she quickens up, she looks like she’s never going to get there but once she gets going she’s got a pretty good turn of foot.
“The topweight (Justaskme on 59kg) obviously compresses the handicap, but at the 53kg, if the best of her turns up I think she’ll be running a very bold race.”
A Gerry Harvey-owned and bred Kind Thoughts will travel south alongside stablemates Latrelle and debutant Haughty, who will contest the Southern Rangitikei Vet & TransAg Centre (1600) and TAB Odds Surge Every Race At Trentham (1400) respectively.
“She was very unlucky at Ruakaka last start, everywhere she wanted to go she didn’t get a run and would’ve been right there, but she was still pretty close-up anyway,” Cole said.
“She’s got a sticky gate (15) on Saturday, but she doesn’t cop heavy tracks and we’re probably going to end up on a soft track, so we’ll have to roll the dice and hope she gets the break she needs.
“Haughty has been working really well, she probably lacks a bit of experience and another trial would’ve done her good, but we’re getting to the time of the year where the tracks are a bit heavy and I’m not sure she’ll be a wet tracker.
“I think the big space at Trentham will allow her to wind up and be hitting the line well, but whether she’s a winning chance, she may not know enough just yet.”
Closer to home on Saturday, Cole will have eyes on the Te Rapa meeting with two impressive last start winners in Part Time Lover and The Prophet both engaged.
Lightly-tried Swiss Ace mare Part Time Lover steps into Rating 65 company in the Champion Freight 1300, while Jarvis Trading Mile (1600) contender The Prophet gave a sight at the Woodville meeting putting 4-1/4 lengths on his challengers on debut.
“She (Part Time Lover) worked particularly well on Tuesday and has come through her trip to Woodville really well,” Cole said.
“She’s got a nice cosy gate down on the rail (2) that shouldn’t be too worn by early in the day, Gryllsy (Craig Grylls, jockey) knows her and the track should be in the range she wants. She should be able to give it a good shake and will be one of our better chances this weekend.
“The Prophet’s win was a bit of a surprise, he’s always shown us a bit but not that much, he really made them look second-rate which I didn’t really expect.
“He’s come through it really well, he’s a pretty straightforward, clean-winded horse and he worked with Kind Thoughts on Tuesday.
“He’s drawn a horror gate (20), but I’m not too worried about that because he drew a good gate at Woodville and ended up five-back the fence, so he’ll end up back in running. If he can get out and produce a sustained sort of run, you’d think he’d be running a pretty good race.”
The pair also sport the colours of Westbury Stud owner Harvey, who has been a key supporter for Cole in his training career.
“They’ve been great supporters of mine all the way through, back when I was breaking in and doing Ready-To-Run preparations they had horses with me and as I moved over to racing they’ve been great,” he said.
“I can’t thank Russell Warwick, Gerry Harvey and the Westbury team enough.”
Cole’s weekend contingent is completed by maiden contenders Rareza and Hanginonbyathread, who line-up alongside each other in barrier 12 and 13 in the Direct Fat & Oils 1200.
“Both of them have shown us plenty of ability at home, Rareza obviously did it all wrong at Taupo and tried to buck back in November, but her trial at Te Awamutu recently was really good,” he said.
“We were pretty disappointed by Hanginbyathread’s maiden performance, he just got a bit worked up at his home track. I think if he ran up to his work, he’d be running a race.”
