Pour The Wine heads into Saturday’s NHR Group (1300m) at Ellerslie with an impressive course record, and trainer Barbara Kennedy hopes there could be bigger assignments in store at the Auckland track.
Racing in the two-tone blue colours of breeder and co-owner Daniel Nakhle, Pour The Wine has had a total of 20 starts for four wins and seven placings. Her four previous trips to Ellerslie have produced a win and three placings. She won a 1200m open handicap there in February, then finished third behind Jaarffi and Town Cryer in the $350,000 Rangitoto Classic (1500m) in March.
Kennedy took over the handling of Pour The Wine when Peter and Dawn Williams retired earlier in the year. The Telperion mare’s debut for her new trainer was a first-up fourth in the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m) at Te Rapa on November 9, where she finished close up behind Babylon Berlin, Imprevu and Geriatrix.
“I was really happy with that run,” Kennedy said. “She was definitely in need of it, so the fact that she was able to still finish fourth in such a strong race was very encouraging.
“I was also quite mindful of the fact that she hasn’t tended to race all that well at Te Rapa. Getting back to Ellerslie this weekend, where she has such a good record, we’re expecting that she’ll run well.”
Pour The Wine will be ridden by Vinnie Colgan on Saturday and is rated a $4.60 favourite by the TAB. Kennedy hopes a strong showing here could be a step towards a possible tilt at the Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m) on January 25.
“Ideally, I’d love to get her to the Westbury Classic on Karaka Millions night,” she said. “We’ll map things out one race at a time and see how she goes in each step along the way, but that’s the long-term goal that I’ve got in the back of my mind.”
Pour The Wine will be one of three runners at Ellerslie on Saturday for Kennedy, who also has Marengo in the Cure Kids (1100m) and Lachie in the Prezzy Card (1300m).
This will be the first start since March for Marengo, who made a good impression with a win and four second placings from his five starts last season.
“He’s had quite a long spell and seems to be building back up nicely,” Kennedy said. “His trial the other day at Waipa was pretty good. In contrast to a lot of his previous racing, where he seemed to often jump quickly from the gates and race up on the speed, he was slowly away that day but then finished it off quite well from off the pace. He’s drawn 12 on Saturday, so we might look to ride him the same way.”
Lachie came close to delivering a first Ellerslie winner for Kennedy when he ran a last-start second there on Melbourne Cup Day on November 5. The three-year-old Belardo gelding charged home from third-last and got to within a neck of the winner Texas Hold ‘Em.
“That was a cracking run and he didn’t miss by much,” Kennedy said. “We’ll probably try to ride him the same way too, since he’s drawn wide again. Hopefully he’ll settle nicely off the pace and then try to finish over the top of them.”