Gai Waterhouse is still a force in Sydney racing. Yes Chris Waller recently broke Gai’s all-time city winners for one season record, but Gai has not just given up. Gai gets up at 0215 every morning with one goal in mind… to train winners. 14 hours after getting off the plane from her annual holiday, Gai had trained a treble. One horse, the unbeaten Pitcrew won by an inch but still has plenty of improvement left in him; Masahiko won on protest and Charing Cross showed a big form reversal. In true Waterhouse / Smith style, Gai made the best of the day and somehow ended up with a treble. The Lady Trainer was smiling from ear to ear last Saturday, and it is hard to see her late season form ending considering what Gai has entered on Saturday.
Race 1 No.1 – Bull Point. This colt has had two starts for a huge / dynamic victory first up and was just beaten two weeks ago by an equally exciting prospect. This colt cost a lot of money, and he has never (so far in his career) given his owners anything but high hopes for the future. He can lead or come from behind and looks almost bomb proof in this field. Many of Bull Point’s opponents in this race have been beaten by the colt already in his two starts.
Race 4 No.8 – The Great Snowman. A winner at his last start by one length that looked pretty impressive. However, it was a Nash Rawiller gem of a ride that got this gelding over the line. Nash found the best going all the way around the track, and while he was up leading out wide on a dry piece of turf, the others were slogging away on the inside on a heavy 9. This gelding is honest and tries hard. He seems to prefer soft ground and sits near the lead and is somewhat tough to get past.
Race 6 No.2 – Kinnersley. A great old horse that does prefer dry tracks but has performed well on all surfaces in his long career. This gelding has won many great races but he just seems to maybe need a little more racing to find his best.
Race 6 No.4 – Kontiki Park. Readers of Gai’s daily trackwork reports will know that this boy is flying. He improved dramatically second up and has continued to improve in the last two weeks. He is fit, talented, tough and $11! Last preparation he was third in a Group Two race over this race’s distance (1400m) and he does not have much weight. But the deciding factor to make Kontiki Park Gai’s equal best of the day, is the confidence the stable has in the gelding as displayed on Gai’s website and her daily trackwork reports.
Race 6 No.9 – Under The Sun. Kontiki Park’s biggest threat and the kiwi import is indeed in great form. Under The Sun has a win and two seconds so far this time in. Actually in NSW Under The Sun has had 14 starts and run first or second on 11 occasions. He is consistent and he is showing his best form right now.
Race 7 No.4 – Charing Cross. This boy showed a good turn of foot to win over the mile last start. He will be ideally suited at the 2000m on Saturday as he has been in previous preparations. But this is a pretty good field. There are a lot of chances in this race. The race is full of 2400m horses and 1600m horses all meeting at 2000m. It is sort of like a lower class Cox Plate. There are stayers coming back in distance and sprinter / milers going up in distance. $6 the field represents how hard this race will be to win.
Race 7 No.10 – O’Reilly’s Prize. This import is one of the horses in Charing Cross’s race that shows his best at 2400m. The former kiwi has not won since September last year when he beat some really nice stayers over 2400m. Maybe wait a couple of weeks until he gets back up to the mile and a half.
Verdict…
Need the run
Kinnersley is going really well, but he has a big weight and likes the summer tracks much better than the wet winter tracks. O’Reilly’s Prize just needs more distance.
Maybe?
The Great Snowman usually holds his form well and strings good runs together after breaking through in a preparation. Charing Cross is back in form, but his race is a very hard affair; and Under The Sun will be the favourite in the listed race on the card, but he has been up a while and last start he could not get past a supposedly old and out of form Mic Mac. Having said that, Under The Sun can easily win but his stable mate Kontiki Park is almost three times the odds for probably having the same chance.
Wins
Kontiki Park. It is hard to ignore a talented horse that is beating everything it works with on the track. The weight, the track conditions and the distance of the race are all perfect for this veteran. Bull Point might be a star. He can do things that most two-year-olds only can dream of. He will be much better next prep, but he should win the first on Saturday.
By Zeb Armstrong
