Racing: Sprinter outstays cup field

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There was little to suggest Wanabefamous would make his mark over 2100m in winter.

Yearling catalogue pages can tell white lies.

Wanabefamous yet again proves what you think you are getting isn't always accurate.

Te Rapa's dramatic winner from Saturday is bred to be a sprinter.

Sure, his sire Star Way could always inject stamina, but the rugged gelding's female line is pure speed.

Dam Irish Era was a dual winner, at 1000m and 1200m and her dam Era Of Triumph was a brilliant 2-year-old. Era Of Triumph raced only seven times, but won three of them - her first three races at 2, including Trentham's Wellesley Stakes.

When he bought Wanabefamous for $2000 from Ada Parnwell, Ralph Manning almost certainly didn't think he was getting a horse tough enough to win a Taumarunui Cup in the mud in July.

Yet mud and grit are exactly what Wanabefamous loves.

When he won the 1800m stakes race on a heavy (11) surface at Riccarton in August 2012, he ran the distance in 1:58.94, not far short of an exceptionally good 2000m time on a fast surface.

It's a little like this year's Australian Derby winner Criterion, owned by Sir Owen Glenn. Sydney trainer David Payne cannot credit that a horse bred to excel at 1000m could not only win a 2400m classic, but on a heavy (9) track in the slowest Derby time since Strawberry Road won the race in a bog in 1983.

"Go figure," says the South African-born Payne shaking his head.

The total understanding of equine genetics will probably never be fully understood. You can get a good guide, but totally nailing it will always be on the other side of the fence and the mystery that adds will always be an attraction.

Lee Somervell trains Addictive Habit from the late Ada Parnwell's Cambridge Lodge, from whom Manning purchased Wanabefamous.

You get the impression Addictive Habit might turn out to be the slightly better of the pair. Where Wanabefamous, at 5, is right at the peak of his powers, Addictive Habit is likely to develop really classy form next season.

Although powerful with a massive stride, Addictive Habit gives the impression of still being slightly raw. Trainer Lee Somervell has always considered him a work in progress and predicts big things for the 4-year-old's hard case bunch of owners.

Addictive Habit's lack of true maturity probably added to his waywardness late in the race that saw him relegated back to second from his dead-heat position.

Although slightly disappointed on one level, Somervell was not devastated by the relegation.

"I thought we'd run second when I watched the race, so that helped. It was a case of two very good riders on very good horses fighting it out in testing ground and moving about is always likely to happen."

With Ada Parnwell's recent death, Somervell's future from the 40ha Cambridge Lodge is slightly uncertain. "I have had discussions with the trustees and they are happy with the success we've been having lately," he said. "I do all the stallion serving and we've had some really good bookings to Civics this year, so nothing will happen until at least the end of this year."