Imperatriz could be back in New Zealand. Photo / Trish Dunell
Thoroughbred racing bosses will meet today to decide where the two major races that have been abandoned at Hastings will be held.
Matamata is now looking for the likely venue for the $300,000 Plate and $140,000 Hawke’s Bay Guineas, the two black races canceled due to a soggy track when yesterday’s meeting was called off.
The decision to cancel the Hastings meeting wasn’t a difficult one as the track didn’t stand a chance of improvement, but it has prompted some reshuffles for NZTR officials as the spring calendar gets busier.
The Group 1 Plate cannot be held on the last day of the Hawke’s Bay Carnival (15th October) as that day is the date of the Group 1 Classic with many of the same horses competing.
While the Guineas could have taken place then, it would have influenced other three-year-old races scheduled around the same time and influenced the build-up of horses wanting to go to the Riccarton Classics.
So both races will definitely be held next Saturday, with the options being Matamata or the Egmont meeting in Hawera.
Matamata will be the hot favorite to get the nod as the new venue because so many of the horses in the Platte are trained either there or at Cambridge and the Guineas will definitely be running at the same meet so as not to split the lead between two jockeys Venues.
“We will meet [today] and expect a decision by 1pm,” said NZTR Race Director Tim Aldridge.
What might be more contentious than where the races will be held is who will be there, with NZTR sure to scrap the fields drawn for Saturday’s two races and call for new nominations.
That could result in some horses who were in the Plate retiring and opting for the easier Matamata Cup, although that’s a handicap the elite horses are likely to avoid.
But more controversially, new entries would mean a horse like long-time future favourite, Imperatriz, who was pulled off the plate on Monday, could be re-entered and start on her home track. She was due to fly to Sydney on Tuesday but with the weather not looking any better there her trainer Mark Walker has the option to stay home for another Group 1 start at her home circuit.
“We don’t have to make a decision until Tuesday, so we’ll see how things play out,” Walker said.
Eventual favorites La Crique will now almost certainly have an opportunity to chase their first Group 1 win on their home track, although Imperatriz could potentially get back into the fray after seemingly seeing them off for the spring.
While it seems doubtful that the panel will draw a full field, Aldridge says NZTR will consider giving preference to the horses that were in the original nominations for the race in the newly drawn field of Guineas.
To make matters worse, bets on both races still stand in the futures markets, with the latest TAB rules for futures markets stating that they stand if races are still happening that season and the distance is not by more than 10 percent is changed.
● Kiwi filly Lickety Split gave trainer Andrew Forsman the biggest win of his new solo training career yesterday in Flemington.
The filly from Cambridge never looked threatened in the A$300,000 Edward Manifold Stakes and by winning a Group 2 in Australia justified her connections decision to sidestep the New Zealand spring. She is now the same favorite for the 1000 Guineas in Caulfield on October 12.
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