Noah Jon (No2, R1) has only once missed a place in five hurdling starts, which makes him a decent prospect in a maiden hurdle.
Particularly after winning extremely well on the flat last week at Te Rapa. There are plenty of chances including debut jumps types in Lucky Tonight (No8) and Fast Profit (No5) and Wai Not (No3).
Amateur riders' races are amateur riders' races, but Joking (No5, R2) looks a very good prospect on his latest form. He drove hard to the line to be narrowly beaten by Reka at Pukekohe last start and finishing powerfully is what will win this race.
The ridiculous bias at Pukekohe a couple of weeks ago which made it more than difficult for back runners has been well publicised. Fair Fleet (No7, R5) was one of the victims. She has always needed a track where she can make ground from the tail and if today's conditions suit that pattern she can turn that form around.
Amanood Lad (No4, R6) and Upper Cut (No9) look perhaps the safest bets in today's $50,000 Tony Richards Toyota Pakuranga Hunt Cup. Amanood Lad has twice been beaten over fences since his dramatic Ellerslie win four starts back, but trainer Ben Foote feels those have been circumstantial. Upper Cup suffered from a slipped saddle in his sole Riccarton start and that outing can be ignored. He was brought north to Ellerslie to school over the Hill for the first time on Friday last week and that experience will stand by him today. Include both horses in all bets.
On paper it's difficult to chose here between Aaja Nachle (No1, R7) and Queens Rose (No2). Aaja Nachle is fit and hard where Queens Rose is resuming from a spell. Today's conditions are going to be very tough and it's possible Queens Rose may be disadvantaged so for that reason there is a lean towards Aaja Nachle. Not many mares win with 59kg, but she is a big-framed type and there is not much scale to bottom in terms of weight in this race.
Rafa (No4, R8) appears to be back to the headlining form he showed last winter. He had a couple of hiccups then finished second at Taranaki when things didn't go all his way. He looks nicely placed here. John Gray (No1) is remarkable and even though the 59kg topweight over 1600m is a bit frightening, he will give it a shot.
The last race is a tough one, but Rocknrolla (No9, R9) was another to suffer from the Pukekohe bias last start and with a 3kg claim would be right in this with her best form.
Gary Alton will be heading into foreign waters with the former English and Hong Kong galloper Bomber Jet today.
The Cambridge trainer has headed south to New Plymouth where the import will make his New Zealand debut in the Rating 65 ITM/Marley 1200 on a heavy track.
"That's the big unknown with him, but he seemed to handle the ground all right at Te Teko," Alton said.
Bomber Jet beat Queen's Rose and El Roca there in his 1000 metre trial on a Slow 8 track. "If he can find anything like the form he showed in Hong Kong in their class three and four races then that's pretty handy for New Zealand," Alton said.
Bomber Jet won two of his four starts in England as a two-year-old before he transferred to Hong Kong where he placed in five of his nine starts. He hasn't raced since he finished runner-up at Sha Tin 16 months ago.
"He's had tendon trouble and he's been on the treadmill most of the time," Alton said. "He's had no problems at all, but he's been a fat little horse who's taken forever to get fit and he will improve with a run."
Alton will also be represented by the last-start Te Rapa winner Biologist in the ITM/New Plymouth Building Supplies Interprovincial. "He's a big, heavy horse and it's been a while between runs, but he looks good and he's beaten some handy fields," he said.
"He's still learning about the game and Michael [Coleman] has done a good job to curb his enthusiasm and get him to race a bit kinder. He's still, a work in progress."
- Additional reporting NZ Racing Desk
