“The boys can’t go up in the handicaps for either the $100,000 Trentham Stakes [January 14] or the Cup,” says Sharrock.
“I have been trying not to over-race them so in the case of Ladies Man he didn’t get too far up in the handicaps, while Waisake has come back from an injury and needed all his lead-up runs.
“But this is the month to get serious with them and they have this race, maybe the Trentham Stakes next week and the Cup.”
Sharrock has plotted his course perfectly with Ladies Man, who bolted in with Craig Grylls aboard last start and should win again tomorrow.
“He has done so well since his last run he convinced me to start him this weekend. I think he will only get 53kg or 54kg for the Cup and he is well on target.”
Waisake’s preparation has been a slog, carrying big weights and heavy legs as he has worked his way back from injury.
He gets in to tomorrow’s 2200m race with a comparatively civil weight of 59kg after carrying some huge topweights recently, but just as importantly Sharrock will reach into his gear bag for Waisake’s not-so-secret weapon.
“The blinkers go on this week and it will be interesting to see how much they wake him up.
“There will need to be some improvement there, it just depends how much.”
While the stayers will be the centrepieces of Sharrock’s team tomorrow, he could also win the open sprint over 1100m with Shamus.
This time last year he won the Wellington Guineas so impressively he was a favourite for the NZ Derby, but after failing to stay in the Waikato Guineas he was dropped back in distance.
Shamus returned to racing after a long break with an emphatic win over 1200m at Trentham on December and will be the one to beat.
Kenny has ray of hope at Kumara in Nuggets
Ruakaka trainer Kenny Rae has a hometown meeting today, but the race he wants the most this weekend is 1000km away at a once-a-year West Coast venue.
Rae and training partner Krystal Williams have yo-yoing interest across both islands, with horses racing at Reefton yesterday, their home track today and Kumara tomorrow.
One of the challenges of the West Coast circuit, apart from getting there, is three venues racing in five days.
That is not the case in the Kumara Gold Nuggets.
Rae has The Buffer in the race, drawn perfectly at barrier two with the apprentice jockey of the season Kelsey Hannan aboard, and he is certain he can win.
“I think the race suits perfectly, probably the one thing I’d say is we wouldn’t want too much rain because then the 1810m would be right at the end of his range. But he is really well and has to be hard to beat.”
Add in veterans such as Camino Rocoso, Hurry Cane, Bully Boy and Phelan The Power and the Nuggets has some depth.
Close to home, Rae rates last-start winner Mischief Managed (R4, No 9) the stable’s best hope at Ruakaka, where punters should be vigilant of weather conditions as the track was rated a soft5 yesterday but could look vastly different come race time today, even if the sand-based surface never gets truly heavy.
Mischief Managed also has the advantage of having new premiership leader Michael McNab aboard.
McNab started last week nine wins behind Craig Grylls in the jockeys’ premiership but goes into today’s meeting one win ahead. Grylls will miss today’s meeting but has a strong book at Trentham tomorrow so they should head to Pukekohe on Sunday close on the premiership table.
“I only try to get Michael [McNab] on horses I think can win so make of that what you want,” says Rae.
Track conditions will also play a huge role in the major meeting of the weekend at Pukekohe, so punters would be wise to wait until raceday.
