A special milestone is beckoning for New Plymouth trainer Allan Sharrock and he hopes a strong team of representatives can deliver his 1000th domestic winner at his home track on Saturday.
Sharrock has been training since the late eighties and has continued to be a consistent, successful presence in the domestic scene, with his most recent of 18 Group One wins coming in the Livamol Classic (2050m) with Ladies Man last season.
Ladies Man will not appear at the Taranaki meeting, but another high-performing member of the stable in Justaskme has been engaged in the Makita 1800 after finishing fourth in the Gr.3 Winter Cup (1600m) earlier this month.
“He was desperately unlucky (in the Winter Cup), I think if he had kept going straight ahead he would’ve got the gap we needed instead of crossing heels but probably fought the finish out,” Sharrock said.
“I thought he was super.”
Carrying top-weight has become customary in recent seasons for Justaskme, and the race will be no different with his 62kg impost decreased by four-kilogram claiming apprentice Rihaan Goyaram.
“Some of these horses are going to carry about 50kg so he’s giving them eight kilos, it’s just the same old story with him. He’s been a great horse but he’s coming to the end because he’s hard to place.”
Earlier on the card, an exciting campaign for Islington Lass will get underway in the New Plymouth Building Supplies 1400, after the classy mare capped off her last preparation winning the Listed Rangitikei Cup (1600m) in May.
“She’s coming up super, but through the weather, we haven’t been able to give her a jump out,” Sharrock said.
“She’s probably going one or two runs short into her first race, but her main goal is the Livamol so I’m working back from that.
“She’s got to have a run on Saturday, and I think she’ll derive quite a bit of benefit out of the race.”
Also featuring in the open sprint contest is Street Gossip, a standout winner at her first New Zealand start who carries just 50 kilograms under Goyaram.
“She’s a Listed winner in Australia and she showed that at Hawera,” Sharrock said.
“She drops nine kilos on that run, albeit into an open, but at that weight she should be hard to beat. She’s glided through her first up run and I’m pretty positive with her going into Saturday.”
Backing up from a comfortable maiden success last Sunday at Woodville, Tisse will line-up in the United Steel 1800 with a senior rider on board in Johnathan Parkes.
“I always intended to back-up for $35,000 and he hasn’t left an oat this week,” Sharrock said.
“Triston (Moodley, apprentice jockey) has gone north to ride at Ruakaka so I’ve replaced him with J Parkes, who I personally think this horse needs. He was floating all over the track on Sunday, so J Parkes will take that out of him and I think they will be a good combination.”
Sharrock will have a pair of runners contesting the Winstone Wallboards 1200 in Brazenbelle and Bella Timing, with the former reverting back to turf from an attempt on the Awapuni Synthetic.
“She’s been racing well, I threw the rope out a bit to have a go at the poly and it didn’t suit her,” Sharrock said.
“She likes off ground, so she’ll be competitive, but I would put Bella Timing slightly ahead of her in that race.”
Fellow four-year-old mare Bella Timing has won one race and placed in a further three from seven starts, with her most recent effort a second behind speedy type Farravallo at Otaki.
“It was a super run, that horse has beaten her twice fair and square, but I think he’s quite a good horse,” Sharrock said.
“In this race with four kilos off, I think she can be very competitive, so she looks a strong chance.”
A daughter of Time Test, Bella Timing is the seventh foal to race out of broodmare Bellaroof, who has produced several of Sharrock’s former stars including Tavi Mac and Darci La Bella.
“They all just have an ability to gallop and gameness in racing attitude,” Sharrock said.
“I’ve got another sister by Contributer, she’s a three-year-old and won a jump-out as a two-year-old.
“They just continue to run, I’d love mares like that to come along more often. They just leave winner after winner.
“We have got a share in Darci La Bella who is in foal to Super Seth, she was a Group Two winner and a lovely mare.
“The old girl (Bellaroof) is now 24 or 25 and is in foal to Sword Of State, that will be her last foal and she’ll retire to Seaton Park as a nanny. She has been a prolific producer for us, just unreal.”
Other well-related members of Sharrock’s stable are Indian Gold and I Don’t, who will aim to make their presence felt in the James Hardie 1600.
“Indian Gold won very impressively first-up and did nothing wrong second-up, but he was a little bit common when running fourth at Hawera,” Sharrock said.
“I’ve implicated blinkers and he’s working really well in them, so it may assist with his concentration.
“He’s a tidy horse and I’m pleased to have one for Peter Grieve (breeder-owner).
“I Do went super last start, she was probably on three legs two days before with a foot abscess so she’s done well to run second.
“She’s not feeling that at this stage, we’ve kept her off the sand and on the grass and she’s going to be competitive in a race like that as well.”
In the final race of the day, the Paslode 1600, Outer Focus and Swingit Our Way will round out the stable runners, with the former having reason for an uncharacteristic seventh at Te Rapa last start.
“Outer Focus tore off a plate half an hour before the race and stood on a toe clip, after the race we found it had affected him,” Sharrock said.
“He carried that and we’ve got on top of it, so he’ll be competitive in the last.
“Swingit Our Way loves bad ground and went super first-up, so it’s hard to split those two.”
Sharrock has claimed 239 of his 999 victories at the New Plymouth venue, making the elusive figure a fitting target on a course where it all began. “999, the last one is always the hardest to get but it looks like we’ve got a really nice team on Saturday,” he said.
