Group One winner Pennyweka (NZ) (Satono Aladdin) took trainer Jim Wallace and her army of owners on the ride of a lifetime when taking out the New Zealand-Australian Oaks double last year, and just 18 months on the Opaki horseman thinks he might have another filly just as capable.
Ardsley Stud filly Merkel (NZ) (Reliable Man) has reminded Wallace a lot of her stable predecessor and she has pleased him when placing in her three trials to date.
“I have said several times that she is similar to what Pennyweka was at the same stage, only with a little bit more speed,” Wallace said. “That gives some encouragement, but it took Pennyweka a little while to win a race, but when she did, she made up for it.”
Wallace has decided to roll the dice with his filly in her raceday debut, with the daughter of Reliable Man set to line-up in the Listed HS Dyke Wanganui Guineas (1200m) on Saturday.
“I think she has got a bit more than average ability and you have got to start somewhere and this may be the place,” Wallace said.
“If she happened to run a place then she is stakes placed and enhances her value and gives us a good indication of where we might go.”
If everything goes to plan this weekend, Wallace intends on giving Merkel a light spring preparation before heading towards some key Classic races in autumn.
“She will just have a light spring,” he said. “If she comes through okay and does things right, she will be aimed for the (New Zealand) Oaks (Gr.1, 2400m) in March. That is the long-term plan for her, it would be nice to double down on that.”
While excited about the future with Merkel, Wallace is just as enthused about the prospects of stablemate and fellow three-year-old Skippers Canyon, who beat Merkel in one of her trials.
A fellow Ardsley Park product, Skippers Canyon is likely to have one further trial before making his raceday debut.
“Skippers Canyon is coming along very well,” Wallace said. “I have had a big opinion of him for a long time.
“He has taken a bit of teaching, he is not the sharpest knife in the draw, but he can run really fast.
“We will probably go back for one more trial with him, he was a lot better in his last trial. He did poke between horses for the first time. It took him a little while to make up his mind to do it, but when he did, he burst through very well.
“We will just play it by ear, but I think he is a decent horse in the making. I think he is very similar to his three-quarter brother in Australia, (stakes winner) Golden Path.”
They say good things come in threes, and that is exactly the case this season for Wallace, who rates another three-year-old as his most exciting prospect.
Ocean Park gelding Liberty Park won his 850m trial at Foxton last week and Wallace said he has received plenty of interest in him following the run.
“He might be the best of the lot of them,” he said. “If someone doesn’t want to buy him I will end up racing him somewhere. I am at the stage of life where I don’t need a whole lot of racehorses around me, one or two is fine.
“I am very fortunate to walk into the barn in the morning knowing that I have got three or four animals that are a bit better than average.”
