Racing: Good bet choosing Te Rapa

Jakki Good resigned herself to the fact that stable star Pretorius had to race on a wet track yesterday at Te Rapa and was pleasantly surprised by the result - a narrow victory - in the feature event.

The Pukekohe-based trainer entered Pretorius to race at both Te Rapa and Awapuni in the hope of striking a firm racing surface.

Good decided to start the 6-year-old at Te Rapa and was wondering if the decision was the correct one when arriving at the Hamilton-based racetrack and watching the Awapuni race meeting on television.

"I was feeling a bit sick in the stomach when I watched the first races on television from Awapuni as the track looked in good order whereas the rain was bucketing down here at Te Rapa," said Good.

"I had a good chat with Catherine [Treymane] before the race about what we were going to do with Pretorius. He did have some wet track form when racing in Australia but he's not confident on wet tracks.

"We just decided to treat it like a track gallop and if he handled it, he handled it, as it was important that he have a race start before the Auckland Cup on January 1.

"He wasn't totally comfortable in the going but he knuckled down and fought on really well in the home stretch and I'm really happy the way he pulled up after the race.

"I had a bit of a chuckle to myself after the race as the weather really packed up down at Awapuni and the rain came in and blasted that track just before the Manawatu Cup.

"This ended up the better option for us."

The $200,000 City Of Auckland Cup will be held at Ellerslie on New Year's day and Pretorius will start in the event with a commanding form line of three wins from seven New Zealand starts.

"The horse came back to Windsor Park Stud for a spell and it was then decided to race him in New Zealand and that's why I got him to train.

"He's won his last three starts very easily and it'll now be a matter of keeping his fitness levels up to the mark before the Auckland Cup."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY