From John Sargent
Horse: Waverley
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 1, Inglis Pink Bonus Hcp) Waverley showed some talent in his first campaign which culminated in a close 3rd in the Group 3 Baillieu back in March. He’s a nice horse on the way up. His run in the Baillieu was a nice run and at 1300m first-up he will be hitting the line. It looks a nice race to kick him off, the top two will be hard to beat but it’s against three-year-olds for good money.
Horse: Super Friendship
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 2, Midway Hcp) He was going for a gap and that was the end of that the other day. Hopefully he can bounce back, he has a big weight but he is a big strong horse and is fit enough to go up to that distance.
Horse: Casual Connection
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 2, Midway Hcp) Whatever he does he will improve on. He goes well fresh, he’s only had the one trial though. He’s a nice midweek and maybe Saturday stayer in the making.
Horse: Perfect Thought
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 9, TAB Hcp) It may just be a starting point but it’s important Perfect Thought is competitive at Rosehill on Saturday. You’d like to see him winning or being right there because he’s going to find a lot of harder horses after this to race against. He’s done enough work, he maps very nice from the draw and I’d expect him to go very well first-up. Good horses do and hopefully he can show that he is a good horse. He seems fit, his last trial was good. He’s obviously not screwed right down but he’s fit enough to be hard to beat from the draw (gate 5) on a good track. He could be either in the one-one or two-one, fifth or sixth, he has a bit of early speed but I don’t want him up fighting out for the lead. If he runs well we’ll work out where we go, whether we stay here and have another run or go down to Melbourne.
From Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou
Horse: Call Di
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 6, Exceedance@Vinery Stud Hcp) She is a blueblood by Frankel out of Samantha Miss. She’s still only a 72 (rater) so options for her are limited at the moment but we’d like to think we can pick off a couple of benchmark races early in her preparation. Then we can start to aim our sights a bit higher with her. Nash Rawiller rode Call Di in her closing 3rd behind Alligator Blood in her recent 900m trial but with Rawiller suspended Tim Clark takes the ride on Saturday. She seems to have come back well. She spelled well, they did a good job with her at Strawberry Hills, she put on good condition. We’re happy with her trial the other day in a good quality trial. You’d like to think she’d be in with some sort of hope.
Horse: Green Shadows
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 7, Ranvet Hcp) He had a couple of little setbacks this time in, nothing major, and continuity in racing is always ideal. His fitness levels are okay and while he’s a horse that doesn’t win out of turn and he’s found a race he can be competitive in. He’ll improve off the run and he’s never far away, he always runs a good race.
Horse: Banana Queen
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 9, TAB Hcp) Banana Queen let punters down with her first-up defeat. We were pretty happy with her fitness levels and how she looked. She just raced a bit fresh and keen the other day and it just told the last 100m, she definitely presented like a winner. Nash (Rawiller) thought the way she raced in the first half impacted on the finish. Dropping to 52kg against a few horses first-up in the same boat she was the other day I’d like to think if she could get the right sort of run she could be right in the finish.
Horse: Smashing Eagle
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 10, Rosehill Bowling Club Hcp) It was a hard luck tale the other day and he had the flashing light on. I think he is the sort of horse that does appreciate being held up for one crack at them like that. Although he should have gone very close, and was probably a good thing beaten, I think that’s the way you’ve got to ride him.
From Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott
Horse: The Instructor
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 8, The Rosebud) The Instructor had done all his racing in Victoria and the initial plan was to again head south. But after a trial win at Warwick Farm and another competitive showing in a Rosehill hitout, the horse deserved a chance to showcase his credentials as a possible Golden Rose contender, kicking off in Saturday’s Rosebud at Rosehill. We were looking at a possible Melbourne campaign for him and we still could, but I was just really encouraged by the way he trialled up here, so I wanted to keep him up here. I thought the Rosebud would be a nice target and that will help us determine his campaign, whether he can stay on track for the Golden Rose. He’s been pretty professional, pretty straightforward, very immediate from the outset.
Horse: Introducing
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 8, The Rosebud) He showed good ability last preparation, but it may have all come a bit too soon. Now he seems a lot more mature mentally and physically so if he can take his work to the races and put it all together, he’s certainly not outclassed there.
From Gayna Williams
Horse: Overlord
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 4, Highway Hcp) Overlord has 61kg in a Class 3, 1300m, less a 3.5kg claim for apprentice Hannah Williams. While latest preparations suggest Overlord is well past his best, there’s a glimmer of hope way back in grade to a country Class 3 off competitive races in successive city benchmark 72 events. Early in his career he contested Group One and Two races. His owner Geoff Grimish bred him originally. After he came to us, we gave him a good long spell and we’ve had him for the two preps, since October last year and some freshens into Saturday. His last two runs in benchmark 72 races in town, he’s been beaten less than two lengths closing off nicely. Really pleasing runs in better grade, for a country class 3, well in with Hannah’s claim and the upside. We’ve got expectations into Saturday. He’s drawn the rails, can race forward and has the weight relief.
Horse: Tags
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 4, Highway Hcp) Tags who has been conceding impossible starts albeit over distances too short. We’ve informed the stewards we intent to ride him more forward, he’s just been getting too far out of his ground but 1300m is getting to his preferable distance range off 1100m and 1200m Highway races. He’s just been so tough and genuine for us.
From Brad Widdup
Horse: Fire Lane
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 8, The Rosebud) Fire Lane claimed the scalp of Group 3 winner Platinum Jubilee at Randwick in December and finished a competitive 5th behind Skirt The Law in the Magic Millions Classic at the Gold Coast. Runner-up to the Chris Waller-trained Olentia in her most recent barrier trial, Fire Lane has developed physically since her juvenile season. She is definitely stronger. After a two-year-old season, it’s hard to get a gauge on how they’ve come back because a few of the others have been held back. But she’s very genuine and very tough. Robbie (Dolan) was very happy with her trial. She was against four-year-olds and that one of Chris’ (Olentia) could be pretty smart.
From The Editor
Sydney Race 1 – The Little Pumper
Sydney Race 7 – Freedom Rally
Sydney Race 8 – Cigar Flick
