The Group 2 Wellington Guineas (1400m) is the likely target for The Racketeer after his gutsy victory at Te Rapa on Saturday.
The Racketeer, one of two winners for the day for the Cambridge partnership of Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray, led most of the way for in-form apprentice Kelsey Hannan to hold off a useful Rating 65 field over 1200m.
Ritchie said The Racketeer was an exciting horse but he was unlikely to take on the big guns in the Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) at Pukekohe next month.
“At his previous two starts he ran into the 1000 Guineas winner Legarto and was only beaten 2.8 lengths, and the start after that he was beaten by the top male in Wild Night, and they will be the favourites for the Karaka Mile,” Ritchie said.
“So playing it smart and running him in the right races, perhaps the second tier three-year-old races, might be best for him. Because the Wellington Guineas is over 1400m and one week before the Karaka Million, he might dodge a few of the other horses that are going for that race.”
Ritchie and Murray had been trying to teach The Racketeer to settle better in his races but they have now decided he’s better being allowed to roll along in front.
“He just doesn’t seem to be able to hit the line as well when we’re fighting him,” Ritchie said.
“We’ve come to accept that he likes to roll along a bit, and when he got a soft sectional at Te Rapa he looked a couple of time he might get headed, but he was very strong. I thought he was coming away at the line.”
The Racketeer had previously raced in the colours of the Ritchie stable but on Saturday he debuted new colours of Grosvenor Park, an agistment farm near Cambridge run by one of the horse’s co-owners, Scott Massey.
“It’s a new boutique spelling farm, a beautiful bit of land there between Milan Park and Wentwood Grange. We took all our yearlings out there last year, and it’s going to be a massive bonus for us,” Ritchie said.
“Fortunately, Scott had his staff party at the track, with two groups of 20 out there cheering the horse home, so they’ve had a great Christmas party. They might have lifted him the last bit, the noise they were making.”
Ritchie’s other winner at Te Rapa was the four-year-old Regazzo, who scored his second victory of the season when taking out a Rating 65 1600m event in the hands of Opie Bosson.
Regazzo holds a nomination for the Group 2 Auckland Cup (3200m) in March but Ritchie said his season target was more likely to be a very different event, the Gr.2 Easter Handicap (1600m) in April.
“He had wind surgery before he won first-up last season, but since that surgery we’ve worked out that he’s probably best kept fresh and running at a mile,” he said.
“We’re going to race him once a month and keep him to 1600m. We’re probably more likely to try to get him into a race like the Easter Handicap with a light weight.”
Ritchie was also impressed with the effort at Te Rapa of Hammer Time, a granddaughter of the outstanding racemare Romanee Conti. Hammer Time worked hard to lead in a maiden 1600m event but still fought strongly to finish third.
Ritchie hopes he can get Hammer Time to the Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) in late summer.
“He moves like a dead-set stayer,” he said. “He’ll win a big race, nothing surer, but he just needs to straighten up and concentrate a little more.”
Ritchie and Murray are in the top 10 of the New Zealand trainers’ premiership with 14 wins, which have come mainly with young horses on the way up.
Though he lacks a headline horse, he has high hopes for the import Mahrajaan, who he bought in October at his first visit to the Horses in Training Sale in England.
Mahrajaan has completed his time in quarantine in both England and Australia and is set to arrive at Ritchie’s stable on Thursday. Formerly trained by William Haggas, Mahrajaan has won three of his 10 starts, all of which have been between 2000m and 2800m, and has an official UK rating of 98.
The syndicate which owns Mahrajaan includes Hammer Time’s part-owner Gerard Peterson and Scott Massey.
“I went up there to target a horse that had a bit of form and looked alright, and something I thought we could improve mentally and physically,” Ritchie said.
“Mahrajaan’s a little bit light across the top, and instead of being boxed as he was up there, with our property here at Cambridge, we’ve got quarter-acre paddocks for each horse. If it works well for us, it might open new doors.”
Ritchie said he hoped Mahrajaan would race a few times in New Zealand and possibly Queensland this autumn and winter, and then be targeted towards staying races in Melbourne next spring.
“If we could get him to a Melbourne Cup that would be the ultimate,” he said.
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Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray believe they may have unearthed their next Cups horse in Regazzo.
The four-year-old gelding was impressive when winning his maiden by 5.5 lengths at Te Rapa earlier this month and his conditioners believe big things may be instore for the son of Tavistock.
“His win was super impressive first-up,” Ritchie said.
“He has always looked like he would be a very good stayer. He ran second in the Salver last season to White Noise.
“We felt he was a Derby horse but he wasn’t quite strong enough. You would think he would get through the grades nicely this prep.”
Regazzo will line-up in the Happy 20th Birthday SkyCity Hamilton Mile (1600m) at Te Rapa on Friday where he will be ridden by Jonathan Riddell from gate five.
“The good thing about him is that he does handle all types of going, so any rain that we get is not going to be an issue for him,” Ritchie said.
“He is in a nice field but I think he is going to win better races than this one. He is going to be extremely hard to beat.”
Ritchie has eyed the Group 3 Wellington Cup (3200m) in January as a potential target, but he said there is plenty of water to go under the bridge before then.
“We just want to go to the premier meetings and bank the most money that we can going through the grades,” he said.
“We feel he is a Cup horse by summer and definitely the autumn. Our job is to get him into those races with the lightest possible weight.
“I don’t think a race like the Wellington Cup is beyond him at all. If he got into that race on the minimum, that would be the best way we could do our job for that horse, and we will see where we can go from there.”
Stablemate The Racketeer will also be looking to make it back-to-back wins when he contests the NZB Ready To Run Sale Trainers Series 3YO (1200m).
The Proisir three-year-old won first-up over 1200m at Ruakaka and Ritchie is eager to see how he will handle a rise in grade against some handy horses on Friday, which includes Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) placegetter Fellini.
“He is still doing a lot wrong. We have always felt that he has got a heap of talent. Where the end of the string is we aren’t sure yet,” Ritchie said.
“His ringcraft is definitely a little bit of an issue. We have tried to ride him cold and he wants to get on with it in the running of the races, and wants to go forward. When he does get to the front he waits a little bit.
“We have got to step up at some point and this looks like the right race as a steppingstone to perhaps a Sarten (Group 2, 1400m) if he can measure up.”
Ritchie is looking forward to Hammer Time making his debut in the Foster Maintain 3YO 1400.
“He is a really lovely horse. I am not 100 percent sure about the wet track, I think he wants a firmer track,” Ritchie said.
“He is a big, lean sort of horse. The only reason why he hasn’t appeared yet is because he has just lacked that little bit of strength because of his size.
“From 17 he will go back in the field but I expect him to be powering to the line in a strong maiden race.
“He is certainly one to watch.”
Heading to Hastings on Saturday will be last start winner Goldburg.
The Burgundy gelding has had three career starts to date and will be looking to add to his record in the Caro Meo Bayleys Fashion In The Field Premier (1300m).
“He will be interesting. The Burgundys normally handle wet ground,” Ritchie said.
“He is a light-framed horse which makes you think he will skip through that heavy ground down there. I am not 100 percent sure about that as we haven’t galloped him on the heaviest of tracks. It is just a wait and see with him and barrier one by that time of the day might be a massive disadvantage.
“He is another one that has got to put his hand up to warrant running in the Sarten. He holds a nomination for the 2000 Guineas (Group 1, 1600m).
“If Michael McNab rides him patiently and he can get three back on the fence, I am looking forward to seeing what he can do.”
Meanwhile, Ritchie was pleased to see Rocket Lad secure his second consecutive win on the Cambridge Synthetic on Wednesday, and he believes brighter things are instore for the gelding.
“I think he is better than a synthetic horse,” Ritchie said.
“We got it wrong with him last prep – we ran him in the wrong races and he wasn’t ready for it, and we let him down.
“We thought we would take it very softly with him and run him in the easiest possible races we could. The way he is winning them is extremely impressive.
“He will go to Hastings now for the last day, providing they don’t get a heavy track down there. The way he is doing things, he is exciting.”
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Champion jockey Opie Bosson will partner Regazzo for the first time at Ellerslie on Sunday and his report card on the promising colt will determine whether connections can look forward to a classic campaign.
The Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray-prepared Regazzo will step out in the Listed Te Akau Gingernuts Salver (2100m) and Bosson’s post-race comments will determine if the Group 1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby (2400m) remains a realistic target.
“Obviously, he’s only had the three runs and we’re still waiting for the penny to drop a bit and we are very happy with the booking of Opie,” Ritchie said.
“I think he’s a very good horse, he’s by Tavistock out of a Zabeel mare, and is a fantastic-looking colt. Whether he is one preparation away and whether he’s up to handling a Derby prep is the type of feedback I need from Opie on Sunday.
“There is no doubt there is a big race in this horse and with a three-year-old you’re always hoping it is a classic race.”
Regazzo, who has placed in all three of his maiden outings, is raced by successful Auckland breeders Garry and Lyn Witters.
“They are fantastic clients and they have got an Almanzor yearling colt out of the mare so a bit of black type on Sunday would certainly enhance the family,” Ritchie said.
“They are the greatest people to train for and just the people I would love to win a Derby for.
“They have bred some great horses like Samantha Miss and Pravda and I met them when I bought The Good Fight, who is out of Pravda, and they took a small share in him.”
A NZD$300,000 yearling at Karaka when offered by Rich Hill Stud, The Good Fight signed off his New Zealand career with Ritchie when he won the Group 3 Rotorua Cup (2200m) before he joined Michael Moroney’s stable.
In five appearances for the Flemington trainer, the son of High Chaparral has won on his adopted home track and posted two minor placings.
Sunday also looms as a crunch day for Regazzo’s stablemate Whiskey, whose performance in the Brookby Stables 3YO (1500m) will determine the next step he takes.
The Burgundy gelding has won once from six appearances and at his most recent outing was runner-up in the Group 3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m).
“He has probably got a bit of a label as a horse who wants wet ground and the races we have run him in have tended to be on slow and heavy ground,” Ritchie said.
“It certainly hasn’t affected him, but he’s run a couple of nice races on top of the ground as well. This is his chance to prove he’s up to the Karaka Million 3YO (Listed, 1600m).
“He has run Dark Destroyer, who is the Derby favourite, to a head last time out and he’s drawn barrier three.
“It will be interesting to see how competitive he is in this race because, like everybody else, we would like to see him do it on top of the ground as effectively as he has been on those slower tracks.”
The stable’s representation at Ellerslie is completed by Shockallia, who is bred and raced by Rich Hill Stud, in the Race Images Handicap (1500m).
“He’s a lovely horse and I see him as a Cups type later on. He’s had a few niggling problems, which is why he’s only run twice this prep,” Ritchie said.
The son of Shocking has won two of his five starts and successfully resumed during the Hawke’s Bay spring carnival before an unplaced effort in November.
“He hung quite badly last start at Te Rapa and had an issue behind the saddle with a pulled muscle. We have got on top of that and he trialled superbly the other day,” Ritchie said.
“He has drawn to be handy and competitive as well. He might be a little bit vulnerable as he hasn’t raced for a while, but his class will take him a long way and he will be a lot better than a Rating 74 horse once he steps up to 2000m plus.
“Ultimately, he is a stayer but he can sprint pretty well fresh over 1500m.”
Ritchie and Murray have a big team in work with the majority of them younger horses progressing through the system.
“Cambridge is an area I suppose where the bulk of the horses in the Waikato are and when I first came to Cambridge, we all had 40 horses, people like Murray Baker and Roger James,” Ritchie said.
“Now, the bigger trainers have bigger numbers and I consider myself in the mid-range with 40 or 50 horses. That’s the area I like to work in and feel we can give them enough detail and get the best out of them and we’re always looking for that next Jennifer Eccles to come through.”
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