By MIKE DILLON
Let Party Queen provide the celebratory champagne at Tauranga today.
The tall, no-nonsense filly has not been able to ruin anyone's party in three starts so far this campaign, but she should go close to dampening the opposition's festive mood in the $100,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Classique.
The key will be the possible easing of the Tauranga footing, something Party Queen has not had the benefit of in her three starts so far.
There was a lot to like about Party Queen's third to The Message in open class at Ellerslie last start and against her own age this time she should provide her rivals with a major headache.
There are a few unknowns in this race on a rain-affected track. Golden Dawn is one of them, but she has won on an easy track and is a definite improver.
Panorama (No11, R2) would love a wet track. He should be a lot fitter for his first-up run at Te Aroha and was good enough in the spring to finish fourth to Ad Alta in the Guineas at Ellerslie on a track much too firm for his liking. Vyner's Lane has been turning in great races on unsuitably firm tracks. He has won four of his nine starts on rain-affected footing and his determined finishing burst will come in handy here.
\EEBacking a horse after 29 unsuccessful attempts to leave maidens is normally guaranteed to put patches in your jeans, but Fizzi Blonde (No1, R1) gets one more chance on two counts.
It took two pretty smart sorts in Mezze and Tycoon Jack to beat her home when she resumed at Te Rapa last start and she has only once missed a place in seven starts on wet footing.
It was probably only the class of Drama Queen (No5, R4) that got her up to win on her only start on heavy footing, but that is a scenario that can always repeat. She has a touch of class and while there are plenty of chances in this race, she makes a fair bit of appeal.
Assuming the track gets fairly wet and testing, Cinder Bella (No5, R8) will take some beating, despite stepping up in class and racing right-handed for the first time. She looks a mare of real ability and apart from one occasion when everything went wrong, she has not been beaten on rain-affected going.
\EESoap Opera (No7) is due a good win and has shown signs it may not be far away, while Sarwatch (No9) has the class to be right there regardless of the conditions.
In My Time (No2, R9) is a lot better than her overall moderate formline reads and she can prove that again today. She showed it last week when third to Cruzeiro under unsuitable weight-for-age con- ditions and back to handicap class she rates highly. Windsor Phew (No5) is ready to do something as is Chase Alida (No1). All three would handle a wet track.
While Paul O'Sullivan has some smart horses going round at Tauranga, he will be at Rosehill watching Pravda attempt to win the $A75,000 Manion Cup. The Zabeel mare is getting close to her potential and you had to like her Taranaki win last start. What beats her should win.
\EEWhat outstanding fields the $500,000 Rosehill Guineas and $A400,000 George Ryder Stakes have drawn, even if there is, sadly, no Kiwis in the Guineas.
Testa Rossa runs favourite in the George Ryder ahead of Hire, and if he is to beat Hire in the Doncaster, giving him a sizable amount of weight, he has to beat him today at level weights.
Testa Rossa looked well below par when beaten behind Lord Essex last Saturday and while that may only have been his fitness level after recovering from a viral infection, he has a fair bit of ground to make up against this opposition.
Fairway is the popular choice in the Guineas, but he will not get away with the same soft lead he copped when winning the Canterbury Guineas.
Racing: Party Queen should relish end of rock-hard tracks
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