Robbie Patterson will head to Trentham with a strong contingent on Saturday, which will be led by last start Group winner Puntura.
The six-year-old gelding broke through for this maiden stakes victory in the Gr.3 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) at Riccarton last month and will be vying to make it back-to-back Group wins in the Gr.2 Bramco Granite & Marble Manawatu Challenge Stakes (1400m), for which he is a $5 joint favourite.
“It was a fantastic result,” Patterson said. “He hadn’t had much luck this time around and didn’t have much luck in races over in Aussie, so it was great for the owners.”
The son of Vespa had a freshen-up following his return north and was fitted for Saturday’s assignment with a 1000m trial at Foxton on Tuesday.
“We have been happy with Puntura since the Coupland’s. He had a bit of time off and has done well, so I gave him a trial to tighten him up,” Patterson said.
“With a clean break out of the gates and getting himself into a forward position, I think they will know he is there. He is very well and when he is like that, he is pretty spot on.”
Puntura will be supported on the undercard by exciting stablemates The Hottie in the Noel Eales Memorial Cup 1600 and Sinbin in The Pavemasters 1400.
The Hottie has won her last two starts, including first-up over 1400m at Trentham earlier this month, and Patterson is expecting a similar performance this weekend.
“She went super and she has improved since then. She was always going to tighten up, she was carrying a lot of condition that day,” he said.
“I am very happy with her. Going forward I can see her going to a stakes race pretty quickly. The Anniversary (Gr.3, 1600m) on the 13th (of January) will probably be her first taste and then we have got the Taranaki Cup (Gr.3, 1800m).”
Patterson is also excited about the prospects of four-year-old mare Sinbin.
The daughter of Derryn has won and placed twice in her three career starts to date, and Patterson wouldn’t be surprised if she doubled her win tally on Saturday.
“I would be very surprised if she isn’t right in the thick of it. She can run very quick sectionals. If she can do that over 1400m, which I think she will do, she is going to take a fair bit to peg back,” he said.
Stakes targets are also in the offing for Sinbin, but Patterson said that won’t be until her next preparation.
“She is pretty exciting,” he said. “She is probably one of the fastest ones I have had, but I won’t overtax her this time in.
“We might come into something fresh like the Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes (Gr.3, 1400m) in October. That is the long-term goal with her, we are just trying to get black-type with these mares.”
