Andrew Forsman is hopeful a drop back in distance will produce the best of Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls) when the talented galloper contests the Gr.1 Harcourts Thorndon Mile (1600m) at Trentham on Saturday.
The well-travelled son of Sacred Falls has celebrated some of his greatest career highs over the 1600m distance, beginning as a three-year-old when winning the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas before claiming the Karaka Million 3YO Classic, alongside a trip to Hong Kong finishing 5th in the Gr.1 Champion’s Mile behind global star Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’oro) last year.
Forsman, who part-owns the $1.88 million earner with the Zame Partnership, took a throw at the stumps in testing Aegon over 2050m in the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic on Boxing Day, though a steady tempo saw his strong racing pattern unsuited to the middle-distance feature.
“Things just didn’t work out for him over the 2000m,” Forsman said.
“I think if he’s ever going to go that trip everything has to go perfectly for him, and I don’t think we want to be risking that, so we’ve kept him fresh to go back to the mile, hopefully it all works out.”
Returning to the venue where he finished an eye-catching fourth in the Gr.1 TAB Classic (1600m) last month, Aegon will be among the main dangers in a competitive affair which includes fellow elite-level victors Campionessa (NZ) (Contributer) and No Compromise (NZ) (Pins). The former currently sits atop of the TAB Futures market at $4 ahead of Habana (Zoustar) at $4.50, Aegon a joint-third fancy at $8 with Puntura (NZ) (Vespa).
Forsman, while confident in the six-year-old’s ability at the shorter trip, is wary of the step-back in distance on Saturday.
“He always seems to race better on the fresh side, but it’s hard to know how he’ll perform over the mile having dropped back from 2000m,” he said.
“But he’s been great since (the Zabeel Classic), I can’t really fault him.”
Closer to Forsman’s Cambridge base on Wednesday, he will have three competitive chances at Te Rapa aiming to break maiden status in Privy Garden (So You Think), Energize (NZ) (Charm Spirit) and Moonlight Magic (NZ) (Almanzor).
A three-year-old daughter of So You Think, Privy Garden has had a trio of distantly spaced race-day appearances, most recently a highly-creditable third placed effort behind I’munstoppable (NZ) (Charm Spirit) at Te Aroha. She will contest the BCD Group 1100 and Forsman is hoping to further establish the filly’s ringcraft before stepping up in distance.
“She’s always looked promising, she’s just always been a bit keen and overdone things so we’re just keeping her at the shorter trips for now,” he said.
“1100m may be slightly short for her would be the only concern, but it’s more about getting her racing tractably and doing things right. She’ll run well, but she’s looking for the step-up to 1400m soon enough.”
Resuming after debuting in September, Charm Spirit gelding Energize lines up in the Countdown To Karaka 2024 3YO (1300m) in the hands of Masa Hashizume from barrier three.
“Energize has been waiting for a decent draw for a while now, he’s been entered and scratched a few times,” he said. But he’s been going well and trialled well on the synthetic, so hopefully he can take that form to the races on Wednesday.”
Completing Forsman’s representatives will be Moonlight Magic, the lightly tried filly a hopeful Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand Oaks (2400m) contender after showing staying promise in her two raceday starts.
“She’s nominated for the Oaks, and we do think she’s a chance as a three-year-old staying filly,” he said.
“We just wanted to give her one more go at the mile, hopefully she can get a win on the board but if not, I think she’ll be ready for a step-up over 2000m pretty quickly. She’s in good form.”
