KEY POINTS:
Alan Jones leaned over the Te Rapa birdcage rail and stared at the semaphore board moments after Jazzella won Saturday's $80,000 Windsor Park Breeders Stakes at Te Rapa.
The incredulous look wasn't surprising.
"Look at that, they've run 1200m in 1.10.87 after all the rain we had last
night."
In the last two years there have been many instances of how the Te Rapa track has coped with rain remarkably well after the Waikato Racing Club spent something like $120,000 on what is referred to as sand slitting.
But nothing as dramatic as the condition of the surface on Saturday after continuous rain from 11pm on Friday to 9am Saturday.
It was stunning when you consider Te Rapa used to be among the heaviest, wettest winter tracks in New Zealand.
Jones knows a bit about the Te Rapa course proper - he served his apprenticeship as a jockey on it.
"In the winter you couldn't walk across the middle of the track, and I don't mean walk a horse; you couldn't walk across it yourself.
"It was so wet bullrushes grew in the centre of the track.
"Just south of the racecourse is Forrest Lake and Te Rapa used to be a continuation of it. It was a peat swamp."
One of the local trainers was Trevor Knowles, famous for winning the centennial Melbourne Cup with Hi Jinx. Knowles became chairman of the Waikato track committee and decided to do something about the state of Te Rapa in winter.
"They pulled up the course proper, laid a thick carpet of sand and put the turf back down," said Jones.
"It was a major development and cost more than a million dollars.
"It also seemed to make little difference.
"You can't believe they could spend $120,000 or so and get a better result than spending a million."
Jones wasn't the only one either staggered or delighted with Saturday's conditions.
Jazzella's co-trainer Donna Logan was right there with him.
On the way to the course Logan had heard on the radio that there might be a serious chance of a downgrade in conditions from the official dead rating declared on Saturday morning.
The stable had this weekend's Gold Coast Guineas as a back-up and the last thing they needed was the filly having a gut-buster in tough conditions before heading to a Queensland winter campaign.
"If there had been a downgrade there is no way we would have started her," said a delighted Logan after Jazzella gritted her way to a nose decision after a three-way fight with Electrostatic and Keep The Message.
Even when Logan committed Jazzella to a start she was certain she was running only for place money.
"She made her debut at this meeting last year and won the 2-year-old race, but she didn't handle the track."
The winning rider this time, Lisa Cropp, confirmed that Jazzella had been unhappy in the footing, which was still a fair way from good despite the fast times.
Jazzella will now miss the Gold Coast Guineas and run instead in one of three races the stable has identified in Brisbane on May 19.
"One of them is a set weights 3-year-old event over 1350m, which would be our preference because I'd like her to stick to her own age group at this point."
There is another trio of races on June 2 and if Jazzella is in winning form she will tackle the group one Winter Stakes, a race New Zealanders Miss Potential and La Sizeranne have won in recent years. The event will be rated at group one this year.
Jazzella has gained a reputation as a sheer speed horse, but Logan believes the filly is not one dimensional.
"She doesn't have to lead. Part of the reason she has led in most of her races is that there hasn't been anything in the field fast enough to lead her.
"She'll take a trail."
The effort was particularly game because Jazzella had been left a touch short of full fitness to allow for this week's flight to Australia.
The Logan/Gibbs stable paid $40,000 for Jazzella as a yearling as a potential foundation broodmare for Northlander Peter Wood, who races the filly in partnership with his father Bill, Terry Powell and Craig Dawson.
Electrostatic and Michael Coleman came very close to causing a major upset - it was difficult to determine a fraction of Jazzella's nose extending over the line drawn on the official finish image.
Judge Dave Carter said the time difference between the two horses was 15 1000ths of a second.
Equally as brave as the first two home was Keep The Message, a long head away between the pair.
It was his first start since coming back from the 2400m of the Mercedes Derby at Ellerslie and suggests there is another good win coming up for the 3-year-old.
Owner and trainer John Ralph is considering a trip to Australia for the Queensland Guineas.
"There's nothing left here now with any money attached to it."
