"She was a pretty impressive winner first-up, and her sectionals were very good in that race too. She's come through that run in great order, and she won a jumpout nicely last week.
"She's putting together a tidy record, winning six out of 10 so far. She doesn't get beaten often, and I'm expecting her to be hard to beat again."
Darci La Bella is a younger half-sister to her Group 2-winning stablemate Tavi Mac, and that theme of family familiarity extends through Sharrock's other two runners tomorrow.
His runner in race four is the highly promising Ladies Man, a half-brother to Sharrock's Group 1 Auckland Cup (3200m) winner Ladies First.
A four-year-old son of Zed, Ladies Man has recorded two wins and four placings from seven starts so far. He resumed at Trentham on May 21 — his first start since September last year — and flew home for a close second.
"He got home very nicely," Sharrock said. "I think he's a very good horse. He's going to have a light winter, I'm not going to ask too much of him over the next few months, and his main aim could be a Wellington Cup [Group 3, 3200m] in January."
Justaskme, a three-quarter brother to I Do, is the clear topweight for tomorrow's Taradale Club Mile (1600m). The eight-race winner will be ridden by Jeetesh Mudhoo, whose 4kg claim brings his impost down to a more manageable 58kg.
In his most recent appearance, Justaskme was runner-up behind Amusez Moi at Waverley.
"I don't think I've quite had him 100 per cent all season, but he's just starting to look the way I'd like him to now," Sharrock said.
"His big weight left me with no choice but to put a 4kg claimer on him on Saturday.
"He's not the easiest for an apprentice to ride, so it'll be a matter of seeing whether he can really get him going in the straight," he said.
"We might look at the Opunake Cup [Listed, 1400m] after this, but realistically retirement is probably just around the corner.
"There's not a lot else you can do with a horse like him, who always gets such big weights in these handicaps through the winter."
Sharrock also has a talented team of six entered for the meeting at New Plymouth today, welcoming racing back to his home track after several months of renovations at the Taranaki venue following multiple abandonments in February.
The well-related Tavi Ann and Fleming are interesting first-starters, while talented filly Catsacharmer — an impressive winner of two races around this time last year — is set to make her first start in more than six months.
- NZ Racing Desk