Stakes performers Saint Bathans and Devastate will take an important step towards an Ellerslie feature when contesting the Dunstan Horsefeeds 1300 at Pukekohe on Saturday.
The Andrew Forsman-trained pair are at different stages of their preparation, with in-form Maurice gelding Saint Bathans dropping back in distance after finishing a creditable fourth in the Gr.2 Japan Trophy (1600m) at Tauranga, adding to his narrow runner-up finish in the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) at Pukekohe on New Year’s Day.
Cambridge-based Forsman is wary of the step-back in distance for the five-year-old, while indicating it proved the ideal lead-in for the Gr.3 Manco Easter Handicap (1600m) at Ellerslie two weeks later.
“He’s come through Tauranga well, we’re aiming for an Easter with him and didn’t want to go a month between runs,” he said.
“Dropping back to 1300m on a quick track will be tough on him, but I think it’ll be a nice run for him to keep ticking over for the mile.”
A Gr.3 Wellington Stakes (1600m) winner at three, Devastate maintained his consistent record through the spring, culminating in a second-placed effort in the Gr.2 Tauranga Stakes (1600m), and will resume from a 128-day hiatus.
“He’s actually trialled up well, and he’s got the ability to jump and put himself in the race. He could be a horse that could run a cheeky race, and of those three, he may be quite sharp over 1300m fresh-up,” Forsman said.
“Ideally, this will set him up for the Easter as well.”
Meanwhile, Ethereal Star avoided the heavy conditions at Tauranga a fortnight ago, and the talented daughter of Snitzel will represent Forsman in the Stella Artois 1600.
“We’ve just been trying to find the right race for her, and this looks suitable to give her a chance to prove whether she can run out a strong mile, and possibly further,” he said.
A runner-up in last year’s Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m), Ethereal Star will be joined by Listed Gingernuts Salver (2100m) placegetter Rebecchi, who showed promise as a Derby prospect before suffering a pair of cardiac arrythmias.
“We can’t really fault him in trackwork, we gave him a trial the other day and I thought he was okay over a distance that was too short for him,” Forsman said.
“We’ve taken the blinkers off and we just want to see him in a race-day scenario running well and pulling up well. If so, then he could be a contender for the Championship Stakes (Gr.3, 2100m).
Undefeated in three trials, Ardrossan juvenile Yaldi will be among several first-starters in the TAB 1200, and Forsman is looking forward to testing his ability from the ace draw.
“It’s hard to know where he sits with two trials on the polytrack, he was good at Taupo, but trials are one thing and race-day is another,” he said.
“He has trained on well, and he’s drawn one, so he’ll get his chance to prove whether he’s a real two-year-old. He’s a big scopey type, so we’ll know after Saturday if he will press on to further two-year-old racing, or he may take a bit more time.”
Later on the eight-race card, Mr Mojo Risin’ and Armino have accepted in the Sistema 1500, while Shocking mare Blissfull Lady returns to a staying trip in SkyCity Horizon 2200, contending with the extreme outside draw.
