Massive week ahead for Go Racing
It is a special week for New Zealand-based syndicator Go Racing, who will contest Group One races on both sides of the Tasman, including the Melbourne Cup (3200m) on Tuesday with Soul Of Spain, and they will also welcome world-renowned trainer Joseph O’Brien to New Zealand for an owners’ function on Thursday.
Formerly trained in Ireland by O’Brien, Soul Of Spain joined leading expat Kiwi trainer Chris Waller’s Australian barn last year, for whom he has won four races, including the Gr.3 Newcastle Gold Cup (2300m), and was runner-up in last year’s Gr.1 Metropolitan (2400m) and this year’s Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m).
Go Racing director Albert Bosma has long held aspirations of having a runner in the Melbourne Cup and he is over the moon to finally realise that dream on Tuesday, alongside his army of syndicate members.
“It’s very exciting and has been a lifelong dream,” Bosma said. “My mother started taking me to the races when I was five, and the first Melbourne Cup I can remember watching was Van der Hum in 1976 when I was seven years old, and I thought this is something I want to do.
“It has been a big plan of ours over the last few years to get horses into the race, and it is great to have our first one in.
“It is climbing a very hard mountain to get there. I am enormously proud and it is very satisfying.”
Soul Of Spain, who finished eighth in last month’s Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m), has drawn barrier five and will be ridden by Tommy Berry.
“This has been his target the whole way through, and barrier five is great,” Bosma said. “Our plan will be to find a spot, put him to sleep and give him his opportunity in the straight.”
Bosma said he has received positive reports from Waller in the lead up to the Melbourne Cup.
“He is in good form, he had a little canter this (Monday) morning just to stretch his legs,” Bosma said. “He is ready to go and is ready to peak, and Chris is really happy with him.”
Most of Soul Of Spain’s owners are in Melbourne to witness the big race, and Bosma said spirits are high.
“Everyone that can travel is here and they are naturally super excited,” he said.
TAB bookmakers are currently offering odds of 34-1 for Soul Of Spain to win the Melbourne Cup, in a market headed by Point Of Law at $6.50.
“It is nice going into the race with a horse that is under the radar and is not being talked about as a winner, but a lot of good judges are picking him to run well,” Bosma said. “There is no pressure, but we do expect him to run well.”
Fellow Go Racing horses Omni Man and Manzor Blue missed out on spots in the Melbourne Cup, but they will run for consolation prizes at Flemington on Saturday.
Omni Man ran home well to finish third in the Gr.3 Geelong Cup (2400m), his Australian debut, and the Joseph O’Brien-trained gelding will test his talent at elite-level for the first time in this weekend’s Champions Stakes (2000m).
“It was an on-speed bias in the Geelong Cup and he has come from the back of the field,” Bosma said. “He goes to the Champions Stakes, which is the old Mackinnon, and if he draws a barrier, he arguably wins the race.”
The Lisa Latta-trained Manzor Blue was unplaced in the Gr.2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m) and will contest Saturday’s Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m).
“I thought her run was absolutely enormous in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup,” Bosma said. “They walked in front and they were going 14 seconds to the furlong down the back.
“I think she is in the form of her life. No one ever punts her, she is always an outsider, but if there is speed on, I think she is going to be a good chance.”
Prior to Omni Man lining up on Saturday, his trainer, Melbourne Cup-winning horseman Jospeh O’Brien, will cross the Tasman to attend an event hosted by Go Racing in New Zealand, and Bosma is delighted to give his owners the opportunity to meet the renowned horseman.
“I am bringing Jospeh O’Brien over and we are having a little event with him on Thursday night with owners and a few other people,” Bosma said.
“He has never been to New Zealand and getting him here, even for 48 hours, is such a great opportunity. He flies in on Thursday, we will have a bit of a meet and greet and do a little interview session, and owners will get the opportunity to rub shoulders with him.
“It is a real coup to get him over, he is going to end up one of the world’s all-time great trainers, so it is great to be able to bring him over for people to meet him and have a chat.”
Staying in New Zealand, Bosma is hoping Go Racing’s silks can be to the fore at Riccarton on Saturday when their filly So Fear contests the Gr.1 Barneswood Farm New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m).
The Stephen Marsh-trained three-year-old was an impressive 3-3/4 length winner at Hastings last month before heading south, where she placed in the Gr.3 War Decree Stakes (1400m) at Riccarton.
“We didn’t necessarily want to lead the other day,” Bosma said. “We wanted to cover up and just hold her for one run, and that didn’t happen, but she fought on very well.
“I think that the 1000 Guineas might fall away to being maybe five or six chances. She is flying, but there is a question mark as to whether she gets a mile, but that is for most of them.
“We are very happy with her, she is in great form and if we draw well, I think she will give it a big shout.”
While looking to kick off New Zealand Cup Week with a bang this weekend, Bosma is also upbeat about their chances for the rest of the carnival, particularly in the Gr.3 Martin Collins New Zealand Cup (3200m) on Saturday week.
Go Racing will have a dual-pronged attack in the staying feature, including the Australian-trained Tajanis, who will be out to go one better than his runner-up result in last year’s Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m).
The Charlotte Littlefield-trained gelding is currently in the care of South Auckland trainer Kylie Hoskin and had a 1200m hit-out at the Avondale trials last week.
“He is a genuine two-mile horse. He needs two miles to show his best,” Bosma said. “We were happy with his trial. It was a 1200m trial where they walked and sprinted, and he was always going to go around. It wasn’t about doing anything but stretching his legs and checking his action out.
“He is great and he gets into the New Zealand Cup on a very low weight, for him. His two-mile record is exceptional, he should have won the Auckland Cup, we just got a little too far back and held up a bit. Ninety percent of them won’t stay and he will, he is a real chance.”
The Hoskin-trained With Grace will also contest the New Zealand Cup, and heads into the race in faultless form, having won four starts, including over 2100m at Te Rapa last week.
“I think the exciting thing about her is the sectionals she runs,” Bosma said. “She couldn’t be in any better form, and she is very clean-winded, so we didn’t need to give her another run going into the Cup after Te Rapa.
“She is absolutely flying and has a great turn of foot. For any horse that hasn’t run two miles before there is a question mark, but she certainly gives every indication that she will run that distance.”
By Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk