Illuminati
Kenton Wright (Race Images)
A narrow but impressive win by consistent mare Illuminati over the weekend has trainer Ben Foote looking forward to tackling the headline flat event at Riccarton's upcoming Grand National Carnival.
Foote travelled south with Illuminati twelve months ago to tackle the eStar Winter Cup (1600m) off the back of a Ruakaka open handicap victory only to bow to southerner Timy Tyler in a desperate finish to the Group Three feature. A year on, the Cambridge conditioner is looking forward to going one better at Riccarton after the Keeper mare replicated her Ruakaka win on Saturday.
"She really appreciated the decent footing this time as she never fired a shot in her last two runs on the deep stuff," he said.
"After her last run at Tauranga where she nearly tailed off I did start to wonder if she wanted to be a racehorse as her work on the wet tracks leading into the race had also been fairly average.
"I galloped her on a semi decent track just to see if that might help and it was as if she was a different horse. I know she has won three on heavy tracks but she really does want it with just a little cut in it these days."
Foote admitted to a degree of confidence on the weekend due to several factors including the Dead6 rated Ruakaka surface.
"She has a super record at Ruakaka where she had won twice before plus we had Viktoria Gatu on with a nice two kilogram claim," he said.
"Viktoria had won on her four times including the race last year so she knows her well and the mare seems to run for her. It was a lovely ride again on Saturday and we got the result."
While delighted with the victory Foote does have some trepidation as to the handicapper's reaction to the victory.
"She isn't a very big mare and she already has 55.5kgs for the Winter Cup," he noted.
"I'm hoping for just half a kilo penalty but it's likely to be more than that which will make her task harder. We will make the trip though and if she can get a decent enough track I'm hoping she can go one better this time."
The 119th running of the EStar sponsored Winter Cup will take place at Riccarton on the 6th of August. – NZ Racing Desk
Foote travelled south with Illuminati twelve months ago to tackle the eStar Winter Cup (1600m) off the back of a Ruakaka open handicap victory only to bow to southerner Timy Tyler in a desperate finish to the Group Three feature. A year on, the Cambridge conditioner is looking forward to going one better at Riccarton after the Keeper mare replicated her Ruakaka win on Saturday.
"She really appreciated the decent footing this time as she never fired a shot in her last two runs on the deep stuff," he said.
"After her last run at Tauranga where she nearly tailed off I did start to wonder if she wanted to be a racehorse as her work on the wet tracks leading into the race had also been fairly average.
"I galloped her on a semi decent track just to see if that might help and it was as if she was a different horse. I know she has won three on heavy tracks but she really does want it with just a little cut in it these days."
Foote admitted to a degree of confidence on the weekend due to several factors including the Dead6 rated Ruakaka surface.
"She has a super record at Ruakaka where she had won twice before plus we had Viktoria Gatu on with a nice two kilogram claim," he said.
"Viktoria had won on her four times including the race last year so she knows her well and the mare seems to run for her. It was a lovely ride again on Saturday and we got the result."
While delighted with the victory Foote does have some trepidation as to the handicapper's reaction to the victory.
"She isn't a very big mare and she already has 55.5kgs for the Winter Cup," he noted.
"I'm hoping for just half a kilo penalty but it's likely to be more than that which will make her task harder. We will make the trip though and if she can get a decent enough track I'm hoping she can go one better this time."
The 119th running of the EStar sponsored Winter Cup will take place at Riccarton on the 6th of August. – NZ Racing Desk
