KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's shocking spring weather will decide your retrospective view of Wanganui's meeting tomorrow.
The $50,000 Cambridge Sales Wanganui Cup will have a completely different look if the track is rain-affected.
For starters Shamrock Star will almost certainly be withdrawn and go for a spell and the likely favourite Bonjour will be inconvenienced.
Trainers Mark Oulaghan (Shamrock Star) and Karen Zimmerman are both desperate for a decent surface.
Oulaghan said he'll be happy to withdraw Shamrock Star if the footing is noticeably worse than dead.
Backing up two weeks after a 3200m race like the New Zealand Cup is unusual, but the Awapuni trainer says Shamrock Star seems to have breezed through the Riccarton race well.
"If he doesn't run the option will be to give him a month's spell and prepare him for the autumn," said Oulaghan.
Bonjour looks well placed if conditions are reasonable.
Karen Zimmerman has always had a big opinion of the horse and is starting to get really excited about his future.
"Pretty good horse" is a big statement for Zimmerman.
The winning margins haven't been great but Bonjour has comfortably won his last two races and will use this event as a lead-up to the Manawatu Cup on December 23.
Three Chimneys has a vital statistic for this race - he has won two of his four attempts at Wanganui.
He finished third to County Tyrone and Zabeat in the Sydney Cup in April and resumed from a spell with a run in the too-short 1600m at Ellerslie on Melbourne Cup day.
He does not take a lot of racing to reach top form and looks a big threat here.
* The odds: $3.50 Bonjour; $6 Shamrock Star; $9 Subtle; $10 Three Chimneys, Rhysess, Bak Da Chief; $12 Bellevue Lass; $13 Cuzzie Bro, Charleston; $14 Highflying; $16 Desert Flight; $20 Madame Shinko.
