Andrew Forsman has made a strong start to his solo training career with a brace of stakes wins already on the board within a month.
The Cambridge horseman produced Francesca (NZ) (Iffraaj) for an impressive first-up win in the Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes (1400m) to open his black-type account and Leedox (NZ) (Time Test) then landed last Saturday’s Listed Futurity Stakes (1400m).
Forsman will attempt to add to his tally at Wanganui on Saturday with two-year-old Wessex (NZ) (Turn Me Loose) in the Listed John Turkington Forestry Castletown Stakes (1200m) and So Wicked (NZ) (Street Cry) in the Listed AGC Training WFA (1600m).
Wessex was bred by co-owners Windsor Park Stud and is a daughter of their resident stallion Turn Me Loose, who Forsman prepared to win three times at Group One level with the now retired Murray Baker.
She is out of the multiple Group One performer Trepidation (NZ) (Falkirk).
The filly was a debut winner on heavy going at Matamata in the spring before a break and was then unplaced in the Gr.2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m) and was again turned out.
“We had a throw at the stumps at Ellerslie thinking if she performed well then she could have her chance as a Karaka Million (Listed, 1200m) horse, but it was a bit much and too soon for her,” Forsman said.
Since her return to the stable, Wessex has finished runner-up in an 800m heat at Avondale.
“She has matured and trialled well and she should be better off over 1200m on a slower track,” Forsman said.
“She got through the ground well when she won and I would imagine she will be okay, although you never know because it’s a different sort of track at Wanganui.”
Well-related Street Cry mare So Wicked won five races from Chris Waller’s yard before joining Forsman and finished fourth when resuming over 1400m at Te Rapa for breeder-owner David Paykel, and connections will be keen to add black-type to the mare’s CV.
“It was a good run first-up and she needed that day out. Hopefully, she has improved enough on what could be a testing track at a mile,” Forsman said.
“While she appreciates give in the ground, I’m just a bit unsure how she will cope with a really heavy track. It is black-type and that’s why she’s back here.”
Meanwhile, The Chosen One (NZ) (Savabeel) has booked his berth in the Gr.2 Q22 (2200m) at Eagle Farm after a luckless last-start fifth in the Gr.1 Doomben Cup (2100m).
“With his style of racing, when he needs to quicken and improve he can take a bit of winding up and often the gaps go a little bit quick and when he does hit his straps he can often end up a bit unlucky,” Forsman said.
“That’s probably why he has placed in so many of the bigger races rather than winning them. I was rapt with the way he hit the line and showed he can still foot it with the best.
“He has come through the race really well and I’m looking forward to pressing on to the Q22.”
Stablemate Meritable (Snitzel) was unplaced in the Gr.3 Fred Best Classic (1400m) after running into a traffic block in the straight.
“He had a brick wall in front of him the whole way down the straight. Often in that situation something will drop off and a gap will open, but they all just went to the line together,” Forsman said.
“He never got a clear crack at them and it’s hard to know if he got clear room how much closer he would have finished.
“I am sure he had more to give and hopefully, next time around he does get his chance.”
That will come in the Gr.3 Gunsynd Classic (1600m) on the Q22 undercard at Eagle Farm on June 11.
