Racing: Early birds can catch a couple of winners at Trentham

The opening two races at Trentham today present a good opportunity to build a bank.

Sanduree in Race 1 and Connacht in the second are strong picks, despite both facing fields full of chances.

You just had to be impressed with the finishing effort of Sanduree (No2, R1) when he won at Te Rapa last start - he fair dashed to the line.

That was at least as good as any of the recent runs of his opponents and a big plus is the 2kg Rosie Myers will take off his 57kg.

A starting gate at No 4 or 5 would be preferable to the rails barrier, but that's the jockey's job.

Few horses deserve a win more than Connacht (No8, R2). Three starts back he was a good thing beaten when denied late space, storming home in an R70 race.

He stepped up to R80 and found the same problem when second to Under and Over then stepped up again to R90 to finish sixth to Wellington Cup hope Booming last time.

He drops right back into R70 today and Opie Bosson has the ride. As a back runner he will always be vulnerable to bad luck, but he is due an even break. Phantom Storm (No7) is in the right form to be a huge danger.

Miss Krisdel (No11, R4) is a little like Connacht in always needing luck in coming from the back of the field. She tried that on the first day of the meeting and looked as though she would have been right in the finish but for continually lugging in behind runners as she was storming down the outside.

Her fourth was a top effort and it might have been the choppy conditions late in the day.

On better footing this time, she should do something and is worth following. Charlie McBride (No8) and Multepulciano (No12) are chances.

In terms of actual ability, there is probably little between Katie Lee (No1, R5) and Adaline (No2) as their one-each Ellerslie result suggests.

The difference this time is probably that Katie Lee is perhaps better at today's distance of 1600m and Adaline at 2000m.

Also that Adaline is a gross type who thrives on racing and may just need the run more than Katie Lee. It will be a great race and Keep The Peace (No4), Eileen Dubh (No3) and Obsession (No6) will keep them honest.

Probably the only way they can beat Wall Street (No6, R6) is if he is somehow undermined by a hard first-up (and luckless) effort in last week's Telegraph.

You have to take the chance on that. He is a terrific racehorse and with an even break should be winning.

Track conditions will be critical to the chances of Tell A Tale (No5).

He is a genuine dry tracker and the Trentham track was yesterday posted as a dead 4 after the club decided to irrigate again on Thursday night.

There will be some very upset trainers if the track rating is still dead this morning with no further showers or rain.

The Tell A Tale camp will be among them and fair enough - in New Zealand we have seven or eight months' racing on rain-affected tracks. Do we really need to take the risk of rendering our prized summer tracks less than firm?

If the track is not yielding, include Tell A Tale and don't leave Mill Duckie out of multiples despite her wide barrier. Overall, there are too many chances to mention them all.

You don't really have an option but to take the short odds on offer around Cassini (No4, R7). Wellington Cup hope Heat Haze just caught her in the Marton Cup at Awapuni last start and her winning run before that was stunning.

She has come really solid and looks to be better than this field. Biggles (No2) had no luck last start.

Despite his 57kg, Red Ruler (No1, R8) looks the way to go in the Wellington Cup.

Yes, the trio on 51kg Booming (No16), Heat Haze (No14) and Fiorano (No18) are going to be dangers, as is Stand Tall (No9), but Red Ruler is genuine class and up to carrying his weight. If you couple the quartet up in quinella and trifecta pools you won't be far off it.

Arlington (No1, R9) didn't have everything go his way in his first few starts after coming across from Australia, but his winning run when resuming at Tauranga recently was stunning. The step up to 1600m is ideal and even with 58kg he will take topping off.

If Balak (No3, R10) could be guaranteed to do everything right he'd be an outstanding bet in the last. He bucked early last week - for which he had a behaviour warning issued - then came from last for a terrific second to Not Tonite.

He drops back a grade for this and would win with a trouble-free effort. All In Tempo (No5) is making a big jump in class, but if you saw his remarkable finishing effort to win at Tauranga last start you probably wouldn't be concerned.