Plucky mare comes up roses at Awapuni
A return to handicap conditions paved the way for progressive mare Rosewood to regain winning form when she took out the feature flat race at Awapuni on the weekend.
The talented galloper had struggled with 57kgs under weight-for-age conditions in the Listed Ag Challenge Stakes (1590m) at Wanganui last time out but dropped a telling 3kgs for Saturday’s open 1500m handicap contest.
With leading rider Lisa Allpress aboard, the Marilyn Paewai trained runner bided her time towards the rear of the eight-horse field before making her bid shortly after straightening.
Local galloper Leeds and rider Rosie Myers had dashed to the front but couldn’t repel the determined burst of Rosewood who strode clear over the concluding stages to win in dominant fashion by just over a length.
Allpress was at her cheeky best when interviewed shortly after the race.
“She’s like me,” she replied when asked if the mare had a fair bit of fight in her.
“She tries really hard and seems to get through that ground really well.
“She’s fit and ready and it helps when they have the miles under their belt.
“I was watching Rosie who was travelling quite nicely, so I wanted to work off her back. She took me by surprise as she kicked a bit further into the straight than I expected so we had to work a little harder to get past her.
“It was a good effort.”
Paewai admitted her charge had found it hard to carry the 57kgs at her last start.
“Because she’s little she can’t carry too much weight, so she found it hard the other day,” she said. “I probably mucked that up a bit but she still went good.
“I thought today the track would suit her.”
Paewai is eyeing a feature race on her home track at New Plymouth as her main winter target.
“I think we will have a crack at the Opunake Cup as she likes New Plymouth which is her home,” she said.
“I had liked the idea of the Whyte Handicap (at Trentham) but you can’t do both, so we will settle for the race at home.”
The Listed Powerworx Opunake Cup (1400m) is the feature event at New Plymouth on 21 July.