Some of the horses attracted might be in the lower grade of races but what you will see is a winner who could be a potential future top-grade horse. Last year the best two winners on the day were Richie McHorse and the very successful Group 1 winner Danzdanzdance.
Danzdanzdance has been transformed in the 12 months since winning at Ruakākā last January and is now a double Group 1 winning mare for the Ruakākā-based team of Logan Racing, headed by Chris Gibbs and Michelle Bradley.
The Logan Racing team, in both Ruakākā and Singapore, has started 2019 with winners and their runners on Saturday have very strong chances. The standout winner must be The Big Easy in Singapore, who has won $100,000 with three straight wins for his owners, who include Whangārei residents in Gary Hannam and Shayne Heape.
Viva La Blues should kickstart their day by winning the Kamo Club maiden over 1400 metres, followed by Call Me Murphy in the Trigg Construction 1600 metre maiden. Then Jake The Muss will be hard to beat in the Whangaripo Valley Free Range Egg Cup over 2100 metres despite his topweight of 61kg.
Whangārei Racing Club goes into recess after Saturday's meeting until their winter season commences in mid-May. 2019 will be a year of uncertainty as the Government develops its long-term strategic direction with new legislation and NZTR, the racing governing body, details its new future calendar that will be released late February for clubs to consider.
THE FIELDS:
RACE 1
12.32pm (NZT) PUNTERS CLUB TICKETS $5
$11,000, Rating 72 Benchmark, 1400m
1 447x2 Maltese Ruby d (5) 59 M Cameron
2 5767x Creative Genius td (2) 59 M McNab
3 1x00x Narvick (7) 58.5 T Harris
4 x5195 Mercy Hill td (1) 57 K McCulloch
5 68403 Hatton Garden td (6) 56 C Dell
6 36160 Quizmaster th (3) 55.5 C Lammas
7 x0784 Spindle td (4) 54 S Spratt
RACE 2
1.10pm FELL ENGINEERING
$10,000, Rating 65 Benchmark*, 1600m
1 00x85 Piazzetta d (6) 59.5 M Coleman
2 890x4 Gino Severini (3) 59 T Yanagida (a3)
3 12408 Tolemac d (4) 58.5 -
4 56640 Tavlin td (2) 56 A Goindasamy (a3)
5 0x073 Toitoi (7) 55.5 C Lammas
6 8718 Friday Woolfe d (1) 55 M Cameron
7 x0765 O'Princess (5) 54 S Spratt
RACE 3
1.45pm KAMO CLUB MAIDEN
$10,000, MDN, 1400m
1 3x244 Running Man (10) 58.5 S Spratt
2 8x024 Bahamas (9) 58.5 K McCulloch
3 9x74 Nitro (8) 58.5 - 4 Che Guevara (7) 58.5 T Harris
5 20x00 Balega h (2) 58.5 T Yanagida (a3)
6 Foodie King (4) 57 -
7 Here Comes Faffy 57 Scratched
8 352 Boogie Easy h (3) 55 -
9 8x29 Selvamani (5) 55 M Coleman
10 983 Viola Vega h (1) 55 M Cameron
11 4x3 Viva La Blues h (6) 55 C Lammas
RACE 4
2.20pm TRIGG CONSTRUCTION MAIDEN
$10,000, MDN, 1600m
1 5x5 Hvar (9) 58.5 K McCulloch
2 0x6 Highland Dancer (2) 58.5 T Yanagida (a3)
3 0x Breakaway (11) 58.5 E McCall (a4)
4 3374 Call Me Murphy h (3) 57 C Lammas
5 0 Red Dynamo h (4) 57 M Cameron
6 58x9x Azugo (8) 57 M McNab
7 8 O'Rob (7) 57 S Spratt
8 Lx006 Slice Of Magic (6) 56.5 C Dell
9 8304 Scomadi (10) 55 -
10 8 Bella Grace (5) 55 M Coleman
11 Cornish Point (1) 55 -
12 00 Moon Shadow h (12) 55 A Goindasamy (a3)
RACE 5
2.56pm LINDAUER MAIDEN
$10,000, MDN 3YO, 1400m
1 3374 Call Me Murphy h (15) 57.5 -
2 273x4 Keep The Cash h (4) 57.5 M Cameron
3 x7330 Senor Moss (8) 57.5 -
4 4 Noble Stride (7) 57.5 T Harris
5 6357 Touch The Clouds (1) 57.5 -
6 Foodie King 57.5 Scratched
7 6559 Etch (10) 57.5 M McNab
8 67 Bernini (14) 57.5 S Spratt
9 80 Bruno Magile (11) 57.5 K McCulloch
10 Only The Brave (13) 57.5 -
11 352 Boogie Easy h (2) 55.5 C Lammas
12 4x3 Viva La Blues h (9) 55.5 -
13 007 Court Cha (6) 55.5 A Goindasamy (a3) 14 8x Forrest Red (5) 55.5 -
15 Here Comes Faffy (3) 57.5 T Yanagida (a3)
16 8 Bella Grace (12) 55.5 -
Emergencies: Here Comes Faffy, Bella Grace
RACE 6
3.31pm NZB INSURANCE PEARL SERIES RACE MAIDEN
$10,000, MDN F&M, 1200m
1 7x42 Lowprofile (2) 57.5 T Yanagida (a3) 2 39x08 Sakhee's Rocket (4) 57.5 -
3 x6224 Massachusetts b (1) 56 K McCulloch
4 32437 Power Of Strength (7) 56 -
5 0x724 Shipshape b (3) 56 S Spratt
6 8x29 Selvamani (5) 56 M Coleman
7 0x8 Counterclaim (6) 56 -
8 Kinshasa (8) 56 -
9 0x She'll Do h (9) 56 C Lammas
RACE 7
4.04pm THE WHANGARIPO VALLEY FREE RANGE EGG CUP
$11,000, Rating 72 Benchmark, 2100m
1 248x3 Jake The Muss h (3) 61 M Cameron
2 843x6 Victory Drive d (1) 60.5 -
3 13107 Final Suggestion tdh (6) 60 C Lammas
4 46430 Repo Sun m (2) 58 M Coleman
5 x0705 Neeson (7) 57.5 M McNab
6 81190 Single Moment td (8) 55 T Yanagida (a3)
7 34426 Uabasso (5) 54 R Smyth
8 94652 Rocanic td (4) 54 M Hashizume (a4)
RACE 8
4.39pm CORONA MAIDEN
$10,000, MDN, 2100m
1 0044 Grant (5) 58.5 T Harris
2 954 Midnight Duke (3) 58.5 M McNab 3 6267 Solar Tide h (12) 58.5 C Lammas
4 70840 Piggy Malone (2) 58.5 T Yanagida (a3)
5 000x6 Dangerman (1) 58.5 -
6 99x9x Our Legacy (8) 58.5 R Smyth
7 08604 Charred (10) 57 C Dell
8 5 Boom Boom Basil h (7) 57 A Goindasamy (a3)
9 38633 Mi Sky bh (11) 56.5 M Cameron
10 8x09 Midnight Countess (6) 56.5 K McCulloch
11 Lx006 Slice Of Magic (4) 56.5 -
12 875 Star Karen b (9) 55 M Coleman
Blinkers off : Quizmaster (R1), Balega (R3), Red Dynamo, Scomadi (R4), Solar Tide (R8)
Winkers on : Final Suggestion, Uabasso (R7)