King's Deep contested last year's race but fell at the second to last fence when in third place.
He has only had six steeplechase starts for two wins and two fourths but was a top hurdler before that, winning three races over the smaller fences and also finishing second in both the Great Northern Hurdles at Ellerslie and Grand National Hurdles at Riccarton.
The horse has been plagued by soundness issues throughout his career and spent almost two years on the sideline after suffering a severe tendon injury in August 2015.
The horse was also unlucky not to win a Restricted Open Steeplechase at Trentham last winter.
He was leading in that race when a riderless horse tried to run him off at one of the fences on the figure eight course and then side-swiped him as he approached the next obstacle, punching his rider Shaun Phelan out of the saddle.
Kings Deep is raced by Paul Nelson in partnership with his wife Carol and Christchurch-based Tom Behrns, a former trotting trainer-driver.
Elle Eye Are in great form
Hawke's Bay-owned Elle Eye Are further enhanced her glowing reputation when she recorded her third win in the space of four starts at Hawera last Friday.
The three-year-old Rip Van Winkle filly was backing up nine days after winning a Rating 65 race over 1600m at Te Teko by one and a half lengths and was just as dominant when stepping up to Rating 75 grade at Hawera.
Top woman jockey Lisa Allpress positioned Elle Eye Are just beyond midfield in the early stages of last week's 1600m race and then took off with 600m to run, swooping around the field to join the leaders on the home turn.
The filly shot to clear lead soon after and raced right away from her rivals in the final stages to score by two and a half lengths.
Elle Eye Are, who also won a maiden race over 1400m at Matamata last month, is owned by Napier couple Alister and Jeannette Cameron and the estate of the late Laurence Redshaw.
Redshaw was a former chairman of Hawke's Bay Racing and a prominent thoroughbred owner-breeder. Elle Eye Are was named after his initials and was one of the last horses Cambridge trainer Murray Baker bought on his behalf before his death in May 2016.
The filly cost $42,500 from the select session of the 2016 Karaka yearling sales and is a half-sister to the six race winner Strolling Vagabond.
Impressive debut win
Gold Mag, a horse bred and part-owned by well known Hawke's Bay racing identity Peter Grieve, produced an impressive debut win in Australia two weeks ago.
The Savabeel gelding went into a $A25,000 maiden race over 1100m at Bendigo on June 17 without the benefit of a barrier trial but belied his lack of experience by scoring a runaway four and three-quarter length victory.
Gold Mag is owned by Grieve in partnership with Christchurch-based Barry Thomas and is trained at Euroa, in Victoria, by David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig.
The three-year-old is out of the High Chaparral mare Chapinta, who was purchased for just $2000 by Grieve and Thomas and went on to win them six races in New Zealand and more than $88,000 in stakemoney.
Gold Mag is the first foal produced by Chapinta but the mare has since produced a yearling colt by Swiss Ace and is now in foal to Zed.
Chapinta is certainly a valuable broodmare as she is a half-sister to Sangster, who won six races including three at Group 1 level, the VRC Derby (2500m) in Melbourne, the International Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa and the Auckland Cup (3200m) at Ellerslie.
Savvy Dreams speeding up again
The Group 1 placed mare Savvy Dreams has been back in the Hastings stable of Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen for a few weeks now after a two-month spell and has had her work stepped up to three-quarter pace on the track.
The Savabeel mare looks to have strengthened and matured during the break and her trainers are very pleased with her condition.
The Group 1 Livamol Classic (2040m) on the third day of the Hawke's Bay spring carnival is the main mission for Savvy Dreams this year and she is likely to have two lead-up runs before that.
One of them is likely to be in an open 1600m race on the first day of the Hawke's Bay carnival, a race her stablemate Wait A Sec won last year before going on to take out the Livamol Classic.
The winner of two of her 14 starts, Savvy Dreams has measured up encouragingly at the top level.
She finished third in last season's Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) before running fourth in the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m).
This term, Savvy Dreams was fourth in the Group 1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) at Trentham in January, fifth in the Group 1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) and again fourth in the Group 1 New Zealand Stakes (2000m).
Xpression back on track
Promising Hastings-trained two-year-old Xpression, sidelined by a virus that ruled her out of many of this season's important two-year-old races, is back on target for early new season three-year-old classics.
The Showcasing filly, prepared by the partnership of Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen, won last December's Group 2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes (1200m) at Trentham at her second start but hasn't been seen on the racetrack since.
She was supposed to have gone on to a two-year-old race at Wairoa in February before contesting the Group 1 Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes at Awapuni at the end of March but was struck down by a virus and took a long time to recover.
Lowry and Cullen now think the break has probably been a blessing in disguise as it has allowed the filly to strengthen and mature a bit more.
She has been back in the stable for several weeks now and is up to galloping stage again in trackwork.
Xpression now has the Group 3 Hawke's Bay Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) at Hastings at the end of August as her first new-season assignment, with the Group 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton in November the ultimate goal.
Aussie plans for Sea King
Top jumper Sea King, bred and part-owned by Central Hawke's Bay's Sue Harty, is warming up for what may be his final trip across the Tasman.
The Kevin Myers-trained Sea King has regularly campaigned in Australia from Patrick Payne's Victorian stable and that move will again be implemented.
Races like the Moss Trooper Steeples and Australian Grand National Steeples are being considered for the horse.
The Shinko King gelding has won 16 races over jumps, including two editions of the Moss Trooper Steeplechase (3600m), the Thackeray Steeplechase (3450m) and the Australian Grand National Hurdles (3900m).
At home, the rising 12-year-old has twice won the Waikato Steeplechase (4100m) and the Waikato Hurdles (2800m).
Otaki agrees to delay
The Otaki-Maori Racing Club (OMRC) and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) have agreed that returning to racing on the track any earlier than the meeting scheduled for October 21 could jeopardise the benefits of the drainage work done on it in the autumn.
Extensive drainage work has been carried out on the Otaki track, from the 800m mark to the 1500m, and its annual renovation has also been completed.
OMRC and NZTR have decided to err on the side of caution and will return to racing in October. This decision will allow the track to consolidate and have a grass surface that provides confidence to participants and punters.
The new venues for the Levin Racing Club's Ryder Stakes meeting, scheduled for Otaki on July 28, and the OMRC meetings on August 18 and September 27, will be finalised shortly.
