Wind Rush will head to Te Rapa on Saturday with the right pedigree and form to be a major player in the Listed Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre 2YO Stakes (1400m).
The gelding is trained by Tony Pike and is by Almanzor out of the Fast ‘n’ Famous mare Our Famous Eve, who herself won the Gr.2 Japan Trophy (1600m) and placed at Group One level.
Our Famous Eve has enjoyed further time in the spotlight recently through the deeds of Wind Rush’s full-brother Adam I Am, who showed Group One potential in winning four of his six starts this season before being sidelined by injury.
Wind Rush was bought by Pike Racing for $170,000 as a yearling at Karaka last year. He finished fourth on debut in December, then returned from a freshen-up in a 1200m race at Pukekohe on April 6. Caught three wide throughout, he nevertheless closed the race off strongly for second, a length and three-quarters behind Yaldi. That highly rated winner went on to finish third in the Listed ANZAC Day Stakes (1400m) at Flemington in his next start.
“The winner of that Pukekohe race is held in quite high regard and went on to perform in stakes company in Melbourne,” Pike said. “So for Wind Rush to keep closing off as well as he did was very pleasing, especially after sitting three deep for most of the race.
“Being by Almanzor, the step up to 1400m should be absolutely perfect for him on Saturday. He’s had a bit of time between runs, but I was very pleased with the way he worked this week and he’s heading into Saturday in good order.”
Wind Rush will be ridden by Sam Spratt, and the TAB has him on the fifth line of betting at $10. Unbeaten rivals Domain Ace and Super Photon head the market at $3.10 and $3.60 respectively, with Renovations ($5) and Star Shadow ($9) the others in single figures.
Tony Pike’s Te Rapa team also features the lightly raced and promising Acquarello and Faster Sooner Now, while the enigmatic Dimaggio will attempt to improve a poor course record when he lines up in the Prezzy Card Sprint (1400m). The Almanzor gelding has been unplaced in all of his four previous visits to the Hamilton track.
“All of his wins have been at Hastings, but it was good to see him produce such a strong performance at Ellerslie in his last start,” Pike said. “I think he’s going into this race in good form. Te Rapa might not be his favourite track, although he’s struck a bit of bad luck there in the past.
“His wide draw (12) has made his task a bit more difficult in this race. He’s going to need to drop back and rely on a solid tempo.”
Pike also has dual representation at Riccarton on Saturday with Ziggy Stardust in the Listed Berkley Stud Champagne Stakes (1200m) and Dangerous Liaisons in the Birchfield’s Glass & Glazing Ltd Rating 65 (1600m).
“Ziggy Stardust took a lot of improvement out of her debut run and ran a very good race for third at Rotorua,” Pike said. “She was green around the corner but made up some good late ground behind a pair of smart ones (Super Photon and Magice).
“Nucleozor has clearly been the benchmark two-year-old in the South Island, and it looks like quite an even line-up without him in this race. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her thereabouts at the finish.
“Dangerous Liaisons unfortunately had a foot abscess and missed out on running at stakes level down there. She’s a talented filly and put in a good performance over 1400m last start, and she’s definitely going to appreciate the step up to 1600m. If she runs to a similar sort of level again, she should be hard to beat.”