Racing: Matamata favourite to run after Hastings washed out

Imperatriz could be back in the mix in New Zealand. Photo / Trish Dunell

Thoroughbred racing bosses will meet today to decide where the two big races that were abandoned at Hastings will be run.

Matamata is now looking the likely venue for both the $300,000 Plate and the $140,000 Hawke's Bay Guineas, the two black-type races canned when yesterday's meeting was called off because of a waterlogged track.

The decision to cancel the Hastings meeting wasn't a tough one as the track had no chance of improvement, but it has left NZTR officials with some reshuffling to do as the spring racing calendar gets busier.

The Group 1 Plate can't be run on the last day of the Hawke's Bay carnival (October 15) because the Group 1 Classic, drawing on many of the same horses, is that day.

While the Guineas could have been held then, it would have affected other three-year-old races scheduled around the same time, and affected the build-up of horses wanting to head to the classics at Riccarton.

So both races will definitely be held next Saturday, with the options being Matamata or the Egmont meeting at Hawera.

Matamata will be the hot favourite to get the nod as the new host venue because so many of the horses in the Plate are trained either there or at Cambridge, and the Guineas will definitely be run at the same meeting so as not to split the leading jockeys between two venues.

"We will have a meeting [today] and expect a decision by 1pm," said NZTR racing manager Tim Aldridge.

What may be more contentious than where the races are held is who will be in them, with NZTR looking certain to scrap the fields drawn for the two races on Saturday and call for new nominations.

That could see a few horses who were in the Plate pull out and opt for the easier Matamata Cup, although with that being a handicap, the elite horses are likely to bypass it.

But more controversially, new entries would mean a horse such as long-time futures favourite Imperatriz, who was pulled out of the Plate on Monday, could be re-entered and start on her home track. She was scheduled to fly to Sydney on Tuesday, but with the weather looking no better there, her trainer Mark Walker has the option of staying home for one more start for a Group 1 on her home track.

"We don't have to make any decision until Tuesday, so we'll see how things pan out," said Walker.

Subsequent favourite La Crique will now almost certainly have the option of chasing her first Group 1 win on her home track, although with the potential that Imperatriz could be rejoining the fray after they had seemingly seen her off for spring.

While it seems doubtful the Plate will draw a full field, Aldridge says NZTR will consider giving preference in the redrawn Guineas field to those horses who were in the original nominations for the race.

Further complicating matters is that bets for both races in the futures markets still stand, with the latest TAB rules on future markets being that they stand if the races are still held that season and the distance is not changed by more than 10 per cent.

● Kiwi filly Lickety Split gave trainer Andrew Forsman the biggest win of his new solo training career at Flemington yesterday.

The Cambridge filly never looked in danger in the A$300,000 Edward Manifold Stakes, and by winning a Group 2 in Australia, justified her connections' decision to bypass the New Zealand spring. She is now equal-favourite for the 1000 Guineas at Caulfield on October 12.