By MIKE DILLON
Welcome to winter racing.
We've got a 5-plus wet track at Ellerslie today and winners are about as clear as the real meaning of politicians' promises.
Call Me Zeus (No 8, R9) might be as good as it gets in labelling one which has a great each-way chance at fair odds. The talented mudder looked good finishing second to a smart type in Adonis at Te Rapa in his first start from a summer spell and the fitness he is going to need for a slog today should have come from that run.
Call Me Zeus came a long way in his last campaign, not an easy thing on winter tracks and the going should be a bit easier this preparation.
This is not an easy race if everything races up to their best. Zabeels Angel (No 12) is a toff in the mud, Just Call Me Sir (No 1) is a group one winner and if Party Queen (No 7) put it together for a change she could blitz them all. There is perhaps a question mark against all three and Call Me Zeus has the tipping edge.
We are on the verge of New Zealand's biggest winter jumping carnival and plenty of interest centres on the $15,000 Mercedes Great Northern Steeplechase Trial. Prince Of Clouds (No 3, R4) looks the go even though he lost his rider in the Waikato Steeples last week. A better guide is his game win a couple of weeks earlier on the same track, which saw him gallop strongly to line over the final 400m.
Difficult to strongly fancy anything in the main open handicap, but Blown Away (No 1, R8) is worth considering despite his extremely poor looking formline. His Rotorua Cup run was ordinary in the extreme, but this is more his type of race. The major problem may be the 58kg, which will be no easy task in the conditions, but he has terrific ability in the mud. Difficult to make a strong case for any runner, but worth a look is It's A Steal (No 5), who should be greatly improved by his first-up run last start. .
Chris (No 5, R3) has yet to start on a heavy track, but he has won on easy and soft and if he can handle the conditions here he might have a bit on most of these in terms of class. He has been freshened since failing at Ellerslie on April 16 and goes best that way. Cruise Star (No 3) produced a respectable first-up run and could be the surprise. Tristram (No11) for real value.
The way Danavon (No 2, R6) went to the finish to win at Avondale last start you would want to be on him in the Champagne Stakes if you could be even half confident he'd handle the heavy trackt. There was a lot to like about the Avondale success, particularly the way he ran the last 75m. Rainman (No 1), Dance Class (No 6) and Our Fling (No 7) are real chances.
If Sylvia Star (No 4, R7) was ready enough to win over 2100m on an easy track in her first start in seven months then she is ready one start later to manage the same task in today's more testing conditions. Sylvia Star has a good record in the wet. A few chances here, but Gypsy Moth (No 5) is worth a look.
Racing: Call Me Zeus best prospect to handle the Ellerslie mud
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