Horse racing: Justin Case ready for whatever challenge Hastings track provides
The one thing most trainers dread for the spring comeback of their better horses isn’t a concern for Kris Shailer at Hastings tomorrow.
Because he knows whatever track Justin Case ends up racing on, the talented 3-year-old will handle it.
Justin Case returns in the $110,000 Timberspan Sir Colin Meads Trophy, the next step on the path towards the Guineas for this crop of 3-year-olds.
Hastings was rated a Heavy 9 on Thursday, with some rain forecast for Friday, but plenty of trainers will be hoping the footing improves as starting high-class 3-year-olds fresh-up on a heavy surface is rarely anybody’s idea of a good time.
While juveniles who have come through winter racing or those with race fitness on their side may handle a wetter surface, few trainers want to give their valuable 3-year-olds a gut-buster in the mud when fresh.
And many young horses simply don’t handle it and their trainers head home with little idea of where they actually stand and what to aim at next.
But Shailer doesn’t have to worry about any of that with Justin Case, even though he is a class animal.
Justin Case won the Matamata Slipper on a Heavy 9 on February 14, while he earlier beat a field full of subsequent winners on a Soft 7.
He then went on to finish fourth in the Group 1 Sistema Stakes at Ellerslie, so he ticks the boxes of versatility and raw ability starting his 3-year-old season.
“The track won’t bother him, no matter what it comes up,” Shailer, who only trains two actual racehorses alongside his main role as Waikato Stud pre-trainer, said.
Justin Case has only had one trial to prepare for tomorrow’s 1200m race but it was a very strong one, as he finished second to With A Vengeance, who has since won fresh-up at Ellerslie last Saturday, while tomorrow’s favourite System Of Play was third in that same trial.
“I was happy with his trial and he had a slightly harder hit-out than System Of Play, so I am hoping we are a bit more forward than him for Saturday,” Shailer said.
“But we are happy with our horse and with the track likely to be wet barrier 9 may not be a disadvantage.”
Shailer isn’t sure whether the son of Banquo will develop into a New Zealand 2000 Guineas contender this spring but says a far richer target could end up being his main aim.
“The NZB Kiwi is in March and Waikato Stud have a slot so who knows, maybe that will end up being his big target.
“But with these 3-year-olds, they more or less end up showing you what level they are up to.”
Justin Case is clearly an each-way chance or better tomorrow and there is some depth to the field, with System Of Play a winner of his sole start, talented and the obvious threat.
But Phillyjean, King Of The Air, Texas Cowboy, State Of Valour and Pinafore have all shown enough to suggest they could be in the finish without surprising, with how the track is playing by that stage of the day worth factoring in.
The 3-year-olds aren’t the only stars on track at Hastings tomorrow as the open 1200m sees serious Group 1 contenders in Navigator (Race 8, No 1), local Afternoon Siesta (No 3) and Checkmate all resuming.
Navigator has yet to crack a major sprint victory but has run a string of seconds behind the likes of First Five and Platinum Attack and while he has to carry a daunting 62kg tomorrow, he is one of the bigger and stronger elite gallopers in the country.
Checkmate could be the winner from the weights structure though, as the one-time NZB Kiwi placegetter looked sharp finishing fourth behind Well Written in a recent Taupō trial.
If the inside of the track is holding up late in the day, he might be the one to beat from barrier 1, carrying just 54kg.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.