Supera ran her race before the Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Trentham on Saturday.
That’s the summation of Ken Kelso, who trains the daughter of Savabeel with wife Bev.
The five-year-old mare was heading into the race off a last-start victory in the Gr.2 Tauranga Stakes (1600m) and was duly installed an even money favourite for Saturday’s contest.
However, a number of pre-race factors, including Wellington’s famed wind, didn’t help the volatile personality.
“Her temperament has always been an issue, it has been well documented,” Kelso said.
“Saturday was a bad day, she was on her worst behaviour. It was a combination of a lot of things I think, one being the wind.
“She got herself into quite a tizz walking down the chute, with the wind and the marquees.
“She put on a bit of an act before the race and I think she got herself in such a stew that she had run her race before she got there.”
Taking into account his mare’s pre-race antics, Kelso was relatively pleased with Supera’s efforts in the race.
“She still ran fourth and under the circumstances it was a pretty good run because she was off the bridle from go to woe,” he said.
“But just put a line through that run.”
To add to the weekend’s misfortunes, Kelso said Supera’s return trip to Matamata was far from ideal.
“She had a pretty tough trip home. It was a long trip, so she is still feeling it a little bit today.”
Prior to Saturday, the Gr.1 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic (2000m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day was a firm target for Supera, however, Kelso said those plans are now less certain.
“We are just going to assess her in the next few days and see where we are at,” he said.
“The plan was to go to the Zabeel, but we are just going to monitor her and see how she does in the next few days and then make a plan of either going to the Zabeel or change tack and go somewhere else.”
