Racing: Wheeler happy to accept one gate

John Wheeler knew this time his luck could only get better.

Worse wasn't possible.

Last year, Hawkes Bay Racing introduced a system where horses for the Kelt Capital Stakes were randomly drawn then the connections picked whichever barrier draw they chose of what was left.

It was fortunate a year ago that Wheeler had just holed his putt on the 12th when he got the call to say two slots were left: No 17 and No 18 and his two horses The Pooka and Pentathon were the last two out of the ballot.

Which way did he want them?

"Who cares?" said Wheeler as he terminated the call and teed up for the 13th.

This time the draw for the $1.2 million Kelt yesterday saw The Pooka drawn out as the eighth horse.

The No 1 barrier, surprisingly to some, hadn't been taken and guess what? Yes, Wheeler grabbed it.

"I couldn't do anything else," said the Taranaki trainer.

The draw came out this way:

Sarrera (first out), Paul Moroney chose No 5.

Gallions Reach, Richard Yuill, No 3.

Harris Tweed, Murray Baker, No 4.

Sir Slick, Graeme Nicholson, No 8.

Vosne Romanee, Ian Smart, No 6.

Yanna Marie, Magpies Coach Peter Russell, No 12

Arlington, Murray Gregory, No 2.

The Pooka, John Wheeler, No 1.

Miss Maren, Harry Bull, travelling foreman for Melbourne trainer Mick Price, No 7.

Daffodil, Allan Chittick, No 9.

Ginga Dude, John Mackie, No 10.

Sterling Prince, Wayne Hillis, No 11.

Jungle Rocket, John Jenkins, No 13.

Fritzy Boy, John Jury, No 14.

Tavistock, Andrew Campbell, No 15.

Alagant Satin, Mrs Burgess, No 16.

Prince Kaapstad, Richard Yuill, No 17.

The TAB betting markets changed very little with the barrier draw.

"There's nothing major, the favourites have all drawn pretty good for them," said chief bookie Thad Taylor yesterday.

"The favourites have held their ground in the market and the longshots have probably drifted out further."

Taylor said the unexpected fallout in the leading chances has lop-sided betting to this point.

"There was a lot of money initially for the likes of Boundless, Tell A Tale, Nom de Jeu and Six O'Clock News and with those horses coming out punters are waiting to select another horse to back.

"I think we'll see some of the big money flowing in from tomorrow afternoon. At this stage the money's quite well spread."

What rain falls in Hawkes Bay tonight will have a big bearing on what the track conditions will be like for the big race on Saturday.

"The track rated a dead 6 this morning," said HBR executive Kim Treweek late yesterday. "With the day we've had today it would be in the 5 range at the moment.

"Some rain or showers are forecast for tonight and the extent of that will tell us a lot.

"If there's only a few showers I'd say that track will be somewhere in the 4 dead range for Saturday."

Track conditions will have a massive bearing on the Kelt result.

Two of the favourites, The Heckler and Joey Massino, have drawn the outside two horror barriers, No 17 and No 16 in the $100,000 NZ Bloodstock Insurance Hawkes Bay Guineas.

Kelt market: $3 Daffodil, $5.50 Sarrera, $10 Harris Tweed, $11 Tavistock, $12 Miss Maren, $14 Ginga Dude, $18 Sterling Prince, Jungle Rocket; $21 Prince Kaapstad, Alagant Satin, Yanna Marie; $26 Gallions Reach, Sir Slick, The Pooka; $31 Fritzy Boy, $41 Arlington, Vosnee Romanee.

Acceptances for the other feature events at Hastings on Saturday:

R5 2.20: New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Hawke's Bay Guineas, $100,000, 3yo sw, 1400m. - The Heckler (17), Joey Massino (16), King's Ransom (8), The Hombre (9), Slashing (4), Justanexcuse (7), Keyora (14), Thundermore (5), Credit Crunch (6), Time Keeper (3), Bayly Road (13), Kohi Road (1) 56; St Germaine (10), Aspinal (2), Gofonze (12), Cat Woman (11) 54.5. Emg: I Am Sam (15) 56.

R6 2.55: DHL Global Forwarding Premier, $30,000, rating 90, 1600m. - Old Belvedere (14) 58; Ben Hogan (5), Kaapeon Way (12), Kuda Mahal (3) 57; Go Danny (11) 56.5; Miracle Miss (10) 56; Ease Hours (1), Grand Canyon (8), Kaatoon (16) 55.5; Can't Keeper Down (15), Copybook (4), In To Win (6), Kool Kid (13) 55; Wall Street (7) 53.5. Emg: King Con (9) 53.5; Sir Cosworth (2) 53.

R7 3.30: GR Kelt Memorial, $70,000, opn hcp, 1400m. - Bulginbaah (2) 59.5; Who Knows (7) 57.5; Hold It Harvey (13) 56; Elblitzem (8), Occidentalis (4), The Twist (10) 54.5; Mill Duckie (14) 53.5; El Santo (6), Happy Harry (11) 53; Awesome Planet (12), Marty Boy (9) 52.5; Miss Caruso (5), Mohican Brave (1), Howie (3) 52.

R8 4.05: Tumu ITM Premier, $35,000, opn hcp, 2200m. - All In Black (10) 58; Halls (7), Soph (3) 57.5; Jovial Jock (12) 57; Smoking Chimneys (9) 54; Yamanna (5), Bon Ton Roula (4), Figuring (6), Porrello (2), Ho Down (1), Where's Andy (11), Tridane (8) 53.