A dazzling exhibition gallop has convinced trainer Graeme Rogerson his exceptional 3-old Sharp N Smart is back on track for Saturday’s Thorndon Mile at Trentham.
But the ever-confident Rogerson stops short of declaring his stable star can win the $300,000 mile out of respect for Matamata mare La Crique.
Sharp N Smart, good enough to beat most of Australia’s early season staying 3-year-olds in the spring, is only heading to the Thorndon after missing the Wellington Guineas two Saturdays ago because of a stone bruise.
That means he will take on the older horses on Saturday, including La Crique and Coventina Bay, before stepping up in distance to do the same in $450,000 Herbie Dyke at Te Rapa on February 11.
The latter is shaping as potentially one of the races of the season as the established weight-for-age horses could be joined by not only Sharp N Smart, but fellow 3-year-olds Prowess and Wild Night in what would be one of the strongest classic crop representations in a major NZ weight-for-age race in years.