KEY POINTS:
The $1.5 million Victoria Derby is still on the radar for talented three-year-old Cambridge colt Nom Du Jeu.
But he will have to run well in a modest $12,000 race at New Plymouth tomorrow to stay in the reckoning for the glamour Flemington feature on November 3.
Nom du Jeu won his only two-year-old start at Pukekohe last month, but spoilt his chances in his second, at Awapuni two weeks ago, by running greenly in the straight. He finished third behind the talented Jonbalena.
Connections paid the first acceptance fee for the November 3 Derby this week, but they will be wanting to see a strong performance from the Montjeu colt if the trip is to stay on the agenda.
Trainer Murray Baker thinks he is his stable's best winning chance tomorrow, but said the youngster won't have an easy task in the rating 70 event, which has drawn a field of 15 (with four emergencies).
"It's the only suitable race for him, but he really needs a big track and he's going to have his work cut out at New Plymouth, which is more of a saucer," Baker said.
"He'll need luck in the running. He has to get past 15 horses and it's hard for a three-year-old being topweight (58 kilograms), giving weight to older horses."
Nom Du Jeu has trained on since his third at Hastings, with Baker putting his greenness in that event down to his fresh state.
He has added a shadow roll to his gear for tomorrow, saying it will help keep the colt's head down, as he has a high head carriage.
* Cambridge couple Robyn and Russell Rogers are having fun racing Veloz and are hoping the party continues when he contests the listed Mason Appliances 4YO tomorrow.
The gelding is unbeaten after two starts, impressing with a rousing win over 1000m at Taupo and confirming that promise with a 4 3/4 length win over 1200m at Hastings on September 1. He steps up markedly in class for the $55,000 feature tomorrow, but his proud connections are quietly optimistic he will meet expectations.
"The rise in class always raises a question; we've all seen plenty of horses look smart in the earlier grades and then find it tougher as the company gets better," Robyn Rogers said.
"But it's a nice race for him, it's a smallish field and while most of the others have plenty of form, we think he deserves his place."
Veloz had a few days off after his Hastings win, but his work since has been just as good as it was before that.
"We would expect him to be right there at the end of it," said Rogers.
And she doesn't believe the rise in distance to 1400m will pose any problem for the Black Minnaloushe four-year-old gelding.
"I think it will suit him. He's a really laidback horse, he just does everything right.
"He's actually bred to get over more distance. It's been a surprise how sharp he has been over 1000m and 1200m. He actually works like a stayer."
The Rogers think Veloz will furnish into a "really nice miler" and have in mind a tilt at the Ellerslie Christmas carnival, depending on his performance tomorrow.
The penetrometer at Pukekura Park yesterday was 3.4, on the verge of a slow rating. Fine, windy weather forecast for Taranaki today was expected to improve it considerably.
The forecast tomorrow is for reasonable weather, with drizzle possible.
- NZPA
