Racing: Sponsors happy to shout Sargent a celebratory drink

John Sargent

Go where you like, you won't find a more relaxed 2-year-old than Naturo, John Sargent's debut Trentham winner on Saturday.

Naturo looked like an old handicapper winning its last race when she worked her way clear of her four rivals in the $10,000 Nobilo Wine Group Stakes.

It was push-button stuff - Darryl Bradley would be cheeky if he asks for a jockeys' handout.

"Yeah, we knew she was pretty smart, she's showed us plenty at home here," said a delighted Sargent yesterday after two wins at Trentham and a satisfying victory with Kind Return at Avondale.

There should not have been a problem finding something for a celebratory drink - the Naturo sponsors would have shouted the connections and the race Kind Returns won was sponsored by one of the opposition, Matua Valley Wines.

Sargent will give Naturo a start over the holiday period then aim her at the $500,000 Mercedes Classique at Te Rapa in February, a race he won two years ago with Successor, a horse he owned himself.

Sargent's 1600m Trentham maiden winner, Virginie, was a $250,000 yearling purchase at Karaka.

Virginie also looks a serious racehorse in the making, despite being fractionally under-developed.

"She's a typical Montjeu, she's a later developer and she'll be better again as a 4-year-old."

Meantime, though, Sargent has not ruled out aiming the classy filly at an Oaks start at Trentham. "With the Oaks being moved to March it's the best chance she'll have of being ready for it."

The Matamata trainer is looking to get Kind Return into the $200,000 City Of Auckland Cup at Ellerslie on January 1. "She's only on 88 points and she needs more to get into the race, so I'll poke around in handicaps with her rather than run in the fillies and mares race at Te Rapa next week."

Kind Return was unlucky in being denied a clear run in the Breeders Stakes at Ellerslie last week and Sargent wanted the mare kept out of trouble at Avondale on Saturday.

"I told Vinny [Colgan] he was on the best horse in the race and said to ride her accordingly." Colgan dashed the mare clear on the bend and the race was never in doubt.

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There are those who don't believe in track bias. Well, good luck to them.

They can't be idiots because as far as you know they've still got the freight to bet with.

You'd wonder how they explain the two days at Avondale, Wednesday's Cup day and Saturday.

On Wednesday that traditional dry-track leaders bias was very evident. Anything that found the lead was hard to run down and horses that got wide on the bend were committing suicide.

So what happened on Saturday?

When $30 shot Strapped For Cash came from nowhere back in the field to swamp the leaders wide out on the track, punters knew they were in trouble.

The racing pattern was so different from Wednesday.

It was almost as if there was an absence of a leaders bias and the track was racing much more fairly they could win from anywhere.

The anti track bias brigade say a bias is created by the way jockeys ride, by the tempo of a race.

Sure, it makes sense that if something goes mad in front it sets it up for something further back in the field.

But no jockey I spoke to rode any different on Saturday than they did at Wednesday's meeting.

* * *

The second tier of middle distance handicappers in New Zealand has been woeful for a season or two.

Which makes the appearance of former Australian-trained Pretorious extremely welcome.

Pretorious won stylishly at Levin two weeks ago and made them look ordinary when he stepped up to open class at Avondale on Saturday.

More is in store and there are big smiles from those who backed him at long odds in the $200,000 City Of Auckland Cup at Ellerslie on January 1.

It is no surprise Pretorious is a magnificent type.

He brought $500,000 in the ring at Karaka - surely a record for a Volksraad - and was meant to head to Hong Kong, but a minor physical problem undermined that venture.

Breeders Nelson Schick bought him back, brought in partners and the big bloke raced successfully from Brian Mayfield-Smith's Australian stable.

Eventually he got sick of the enclosed regimentation of Australian establishments and the owners returned him to New Zealand and to Jakki Good's Pukekohe stable.

The results are impressive.