Joy Anna nears racing return
PROMISING type Joy Anna’s only previous visit to Taupo resulted in victory and trainer Mark Blackie is keen to test the lightly-raced mare’s form there again on Wednesday.
The four-year-old, which beat the highly-regarded and subsequent winner Princess Kereru on the course in August, will chase further success in the Starlight Cinema Handicap when it returns after almost two months.
The Tauranga-based Blackie believes Joy Anna is a chance to double up at Taupo.
“She’s talented and I’d expect her to go pretty close again,” Tauranga trainer Mark Blackie said.
“She’s thrived since her last run. In the last two weeks she might have done too well, but it’s only 1000m so she should get away with it.
“As long as she comes through the run well she’ll go to Rotorua 10 days later for a 1200m race.”
Joy Anna was an easy debut winner last season before a minor placing and the mare was subsequently spelled after an unplaced run in the Listed Soliloquy Stakes at Ellerslie.
Blackie said the horse needed the break from racing to get back to its best.
“She pulled up lame and she’s had a few niggling problems, but she’s good now,” the trainer said.
The future plans are to get Joy Anna over longer distances, but Blackie is reluctant to step the horse up from the sprint trip given how well the mare is excelling.
“She’s bred to go over more ground, but she shows so much speed and at the moment 1200m is probably her pet distance,” he said.
“At the end of this campaign I’ll probably run her over 1400m and next time I think she’ll get a mile and we can look for some black type for her.”