Coventina Bay (NZ) (Shamexpress) was meant to be enjoying a well-deserved spell in the Queensland sun at the moment, however, the weather in the Sunshine State had other plans over the weekend.
The Robbie Patterson-trained mare was set to have her final start of the season in the Listed Glasshouse Handicap (1400m) at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday, but the meeting was abandoned following heavy rain.
The daughter of Shamexpress had won her 1200m trial on the track last month and Patterson was looking forward to lining her up on the surface once again after disappointing results at Eagle Farm.
“Her first start in the Dane Ripper (Gr.2, 1300m) she just got stuck on the inside and it just wasn’t the place to be,” the Taranaki horseman told SENTrack.
“In the Tatt’s Tiara (Gr.1, 1400m) it was a really slow run race and she was back last in a big field and they sprinted home. She found the line but when you get that far back in a slow run race it is very hard to make up ground.
“She just hasn’t had the rub of the green. I don’t think she is suited to the Eagle Farm track, a lot of horses aren’t, and I think she is one of them.”
Patterson will continue to keep her ticking over until she competes in the rescheduled meeting on Sunday where he believes she will be hard to beat.
“She trialled really well there a month ago and that is her sort of surface, she can skip over it,” Patterson said.
Coventina Bay has had an active five-year-old season, with 10 starts for three wins and three placings. Her wins included the Gr.3 J Swap Sprint (1400m) and Gr.3 Cuddle Stakes (1600m), and she placed in the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m), Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m), and Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m).
