Racing: Smile grows as classy mare does

Stephen Autridge knew exactly where he was with Lashed at 5.45am on Tuesday. It was a gallop he'd been waiting to see.

The smile of expectancy before tomorrow's $100,000 Whakanui Stud International at Te Rapa will be just that little bit wider as a result.

Expectancy is the right word. Lashed is in-foal to Zabeel and will be retired tomorrow night and will remain so, provided she scans pregnant 10 days after the race.

Her form since running in the Melbourne Cup is better than the 833 formline suggests, even if a touch off the dash she displayed in winning three group one events at the same time last year.

Autridge knew the stable was back on track when he saw Tuesday's gallop.

There is a perception that mares improve when in foal, essentially because they settle emotionally, a small part of that being the time when that is measured is mid-summer to early autumn when mares generally are at their best. Breeding cycles can disrupt mares' form in the spring.

But Lashed's owner Sir Patrick Hogan believes the predominant reason for the form improvement of pregnant mares is that they receive a natural dose of progesterone, a hormone which is banned as an introduced substance.

The form improvement is not as general as widely believed. A controlled study at South Australia's plush Lindsay Park a few years ago, one of the few on record, concluded that for every mare that improves its racetrack performance when in foal, an equal number go backwards.

After Tuesday, you are flat convincing Stephen Autridge Lashed does not fit into the former category.

Lashed won the Whakanui last year in a desperate finish with Penny Gem and does not need to improve greatly on current form to repeat.

With little luck she made up a huge amount of ground to finish fourth to Bhandara in the too-short 1600m King's Plate at Ellerslie on Boxing Day when resuming.

She took a similar amount of distance off St Reims and Distinctly Secret in the 2000m Zabeel Classic a week later then did remarkably well to revert to 1600m and flash home for third to Maroofity and Zvezda in the Thorndon Mile last start.

The jump back up to 2000m is the key.

Lashed performs to her optimum on all surfaces except rock hard. Hamilton has been so dry, Te Rapa course manager Neil Treweek has been pouring huge amounts of water on to the racetrack to provide a comfortable cushion for tomorrow, but equally to ensure that rain on the day on a hard surface does not equate to horses skating and cancellation.

"Brown patches started to appear on the track," said Treweek. "It's had a lot of water this week and we're aiming for a rating of 2.2 - it'll have the fire right out of it."

Distinctly Secret and The Jewel will be well in the market and Dowry is the upsetter.

Dowry has been lightly raced since winning the Oaks in Adelaide last year. Her sole start in preparation for this race was her stylish fourth behind Tadan over 1600m at Trentham two week ago.

"She's a mare who wants more than this 2000m, but it is only her second run back and she's still fresh enough," said trainer Murray Baker. "She's also a big mare that needs plenty of racing room. I'm very pleased with her."

These days Mark Walker does not take Distinctly Secret to the races with great expectations.

"To be fair to him, he's gone two good races for seconds lately, but he's a bit past his best.

"If he takes his A-Game to the races he'll be competitive."

$100,000 Whakanui

* Lashed bows out of the racing game in tomorrow's group one race.

* She is in foal to Zabeel and has just started to show the signs of the improvement some mares display in that state.

* On Tuesday Lashed galloped in the same form as before she won last year's Whakanui.