Te Rapa track surprise boosts stars’ chances in $150,000 Foxbridge Plate
The Waikato winter is set to play an unexpected role in launching the serious phase of the New Zealand racing season on the right foot tomorrow.
That’s because Te Rapa could stunningly get close to a perfect Soft 5 surface for tomorrow’s $150,000 Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate, the first big-time flat race of the new season.
The Group 2 sprint sees the return of our best sprinters from last season, First Five and Alabama Lass and last year’s Railway winner Crocetti, against defending champion Sterling Express, the sort of elite equine athletes Kiwis punters haven’t seen for months.
For much of the week the trainers of First Five and Crocetti were hoping the Te Rapa track, which was listed as a Heavy 9, would get back to a Soft 7 at best, maybe even a Soft 6.
But acting track manager Damon Anaki says the track could be even better than that.
“I know it was listed on Wednesday morning as a Heavy 9, but when I did the next penetrometer on Wednesday afternoon it was already back to a Soft 7,” says Anaki.
“I think it will get back to a Soft 6 tomorrow [Friday] and with no rain forecast at all, the sun out and a bit of wind around we could even get to a Soft 5 by Saturday.”
That will be music to the ears of the trainers of the biggest names in tomorrow’s race, because while Crocetti has won twice on heavy tracks and Alabama Lass impressed winning a recent trial at Te Rapa on a Heavy 8, the trainers of the favourites all want a mid-slow range track at worst.
They look set to get that, and with the bonus that the Te Rapa rail goes back into the true position for the first time in two months, effectively providing 7m of smooth new grass for tomorrow’s meeting.
While a Soft 5 or 6 will still be suitable for many of the winter warriors adept on a heavy surface, the better the track the more likely one of the big three will win.
Of the favourites, First Five is the one whose chances improve the most with every track upgrade, as trainer David Greene has already declared the Telegraph and BCD Sprint winner of last season operates best on Good range tracks.
It would be a stretch to expect him to get that tomorrow, but on his home track at possibly a Soft 5, First Five can now win rather than using tomorrow’s race as a pipe-opener for the Proisir Plate in two weeks.
So while he will undoubtedly improve with tomorrow’s race, his $6.50 is becoming value.
Crocetti’s connections will also be energised by the improving track, but countering both those factors is that Alabama Lass is a naturally fast mare who will likely cross to the lead and then be able to dictate against the rail in a race lacking obvious pressure.
The way she trialled at Te Rapa recently and remembering she ran second fresh up in the Group 1 Moir Stakes in Melbourne this time last year, she remains the horse to beat.
WAIKATO RACING’S NEW BOSS
Nick Johnson will be the new chief executive of Waikato Thoroughbred Racing (WTR).
He has been appointed to replace Andrew “Butch” Castles, who has stood down from the role for health reasons, and will start on October 5.
Johnson has been chief executive of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Association since October 2023 and joins WTR at a crucial time as it continues to work on the Greenfield project, building a new race and training track in Waikato.
“It is an honour to be appointed chief executive of Waikato Thoroughbred Racing,” says Johnson.
“WTR sits at the heart of New Zealand’s thoroughbred industry, and I take on the role with a clear sense of the responsibility that comes with that, but also real ambition for what WTR can become over the coming years.
“WTR already has considerable strengths, and I have a lot of respect for what Butch and the wider team have achieved through a period of significant change.”
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.