Horse racing: La Crique backers committed to the Battle of Hastings

La Crique. Photo / Kenton Wright.

The team behind excitement machine La Crique say they are committed to starting in Saturday's $300,000 Tarzino Trophy even though a heavy Hastings track won't suit.

The four-year-old mare will go fresh-up into the Group 1 over 1400m, giving away fitness, proven heavy track ability and nearly 20 rating points to key rival Imperatriz.

Nobody doubts La Crique's raw talent though as she was dazzling at times last season, none moreso than in the Avondale Guineas, and was a luckless second in the NZ Derby.

She possesses electrifying speed and has looked very forward winning two recent trials. But although she has won on a soft track and been placed in her only heavy track start, she looks too brilliant to truly enjoy the tough mudder Saturday's race may become.

Co-trainer Katrina Alexander is the first to admit that but says she and the mare's connections committed to this race rather than heading to Australia early so she will start and they, and punters, will know more after the race.

"She hasn't shown us she can't gallop on heavy tracks," Alexander told the Herald. "But obviously we would have liked a better track than we are going to get.

"I think she will handle it well enough but whether she is quite as good as she can be on a really heavy track, we don't know.

"What we do know if she is very well and alongside her trials he last two pieces of work at Matamata, where she was able to get first use of the inside grass on Tuesday, have been very good."

The fact La Crique is considered any chance of beating Imperatriz after what the latter did at Te Rapa last start and beating Dragon Leap giving him 5kg at Ruakaka the start before reaffirms La Crique's style.

"I don't know if we can beat her this time with her having so many advantages and I have told Craig [Grylls, jockey] not to be too hard on her," says Alexander. If La Crique wins or finishes a good second it would increase her chances of sticking around for the Arrowfield Plate in three weeks but a more resounding defeat could have the Alexanders scouring the Australian weather reports to see if better track conditions can be found in Sydney or more likely Melbourne.

"We thought about Australia initally but it has been so wet over there, particularly in Sydney, we committed to at least one start here, even if this track will be very wet," says Alexander.

The mares aren't the only high class four-year-olds in tomorrow's Group 1 with Dark Destroyer good enough to win the Auckland Guineas and Rough Habit Plate last season, the latter on a heavy track.

He has the class to be a weight-for-age horse but was only average in his recent trial behind La Crique and would need major improvement to beat her, let alone Imperatriz, on Saturday.