Te Akau made their presence known in the south on Thursday, with the Matamata operation’s southern-based horses claiming a hat-trick on the seven-race card at Riccarton Park Synthetic.
Awapuni visitor Belardo Boy claimed the first stakes race of the new racing season when he came with a determined late run to capture the Gr.3 Winning Edge Presentations Winter Cup (1600m) at Riccarton.
It will take a modern weight-carrying record for Justaskme to win Saturday's Gr.3 Winning Edge Presentations 126th Winter Cup (1600m) at Riccarton but trainer Allan Sharrock reckons he can.
Any thoughts Riccarton trainer Ryan Thistoll might have had that Strike Force would become easier to deal with as he got older have long since dissipated.
Five races, five favourites - that's the scenario for Riccarton trainers Michael and Matthew Pitman ahead of their hometrack meeting on Saturday. Now the task is finding five winners.
Riccarton trainers Kevin and Annette Hinton will head south to Oamaru on Thursday in search of better footing for their promising galloper Robbie Burns.
