Cambridge trainer Tony Pike is happy to go two-by-two in three upcoming New Zealand Cup week features at Riccarton but he’d still like be coming out number one.
Pike has Tellall and Dawn Parade in the Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) and Providenceprovides and London Bound in the Gr.3 Valachi Downs Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) at Riccarton on Wednesday and There You Go and Chanel in Saturday’s Gr.1 Barneswood Farm New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at the same track.
Pike had earlier considered Providenceprovides as a candidate for the Coupland’s Mile but has opted to race her against her own sex, leaving four-year-old geldings Tellall and Dawn Parade to tackle the day’s feature from the 53kg minimum.
“Miss Tycoon Rose looks pretty hard to beat on her form but it’s pretty even below her, hence from off the minimum we reckon our two are well worth having a decent crack with,” Pike said.
“Tellall got tripped up by the shifty track at Te Rapa last time. He got buried back on the inside and never really travelled, which he’s done on that type of ground before.
“But back on a firm track is going to be a huge help. The wide draw doesn’t really worry me too much with him because he’s a better horse with some clear air.
“He’ll probably roll forward and sit outside the leader or at least in a handy position and we think he’s talented enough. If he brings his A-game, he’s definitely capable of winning it.”
Tellall has won four of his eight starts, with Dawn Parade drawing level on wins with a deserved last-start victory at Ashburton at his 11th start.
“We had to ride him upside down last time. He’s a better horse ridden with cover,” Pike said.
“The trip away has done him a world of good. It’s made him grow up that much more and he’s become a lot more professional as a racehorse now. He used to put the white flag up pretty quickly.
“He’s rock-hard fit now and he’s in good form and I see the bookmakers have put up $21 but I don’t think he’s without an eachway chance. He’s got the talent and if he puts things together, he can definitely be running in the top three.”
Pike will seek a similar result with Providenceprovides and London Bound looking to enhance their breeding value with a top-three finish in Group Three company.
“The two mares are having a shot at black-type. It didn’t look an overly strong field when the nominations came out. It really wasn’t much stronger than the Rating 74 race so we’re giving them both their opportunity to gain some black-type. The only thing is they’ve copped a couple of horror barrier draws.”
Real Impact four-year-old Providenceprovides, a winner of two of her six starts, has drawn barrier 17, while four-win Proisir five-year-old London Bound draws on her immediate inside in 16.
“Providenceprovides will probably roll forward from that outside gate. If she can get across without doing too much work, she’ll be in a position to be a really genuine chance from there,” Pike said.
“On the flipside, London Bound will go back and be ridden cold and need a reasonable tempo. We’ve got our bases covered in that respect. They’ve both come through their last starts well and they are both eachway chances in a moderate race. They are both going well.”
Following Wednesday’s meeting Pike will turn his attention to the 1000 Guineas, in which he will produce the TAB’s equal $3.40 favourite There You Go and $26 shot Chanel.
Both trialled to Pike’s satisfaction at Ashburton last week in the same heat.
“There You Go galloped on the course proper at Riccarton this morning and her work was outstanding. We couldn’t be happier with her,” he said.
“She trialled really nicely at Ashburton. She was good through the line and it was the same with her work today. Hopefully with a bit of luck we can go close to picking up the Group One on Saturday.
“Chanel trialled really well too, just ridden quieter, so we’ll do the same on Saturday. If they do run it hard, she’s a chance of getting home strongly late.”
Pike was lamenting his bad luck with Field Of Gold, who made ground for third after he was denied clear running at a crucial stage of last Saturday’s Gr.1 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton.
“He’ll fly home on Tuesday and have a week in the paddock and then work his way through the three-year-old races up at Ellerslie,” Pike said. “Whether we work towards a Derby or have a go at a Group One 2000m weight-for-age race, we’ll just see. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of depth in those ranks at the moment so the time might be right to have a go.”
