Aotearoa Classic in crosshairs for He Who Dares

Exciting four-year-old He Who Dares (NZ) (Snitzel) made a pleasing start to his season at the Avondale trials on Thursday when finishing strongly to win his 1000m heat, and now trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson are setting their sights on some lucrative targets for the son of Snitzel.

He Who Dares proved himself as a younger horse, finishing runner-up to subsequent Group One winner and now stallion Return To Conquer (Snitzel) in the Gr.3 Matamata Slipper (1200m) as a juvenile before placing four times at stakes level as a three-year-old last term, three of those behind glamour filly Well Written (Written Tycoon) in the Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1400m), $1.5 million Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) and $4 million The NZB Kiwi (1500m).

He has subsequently been gelded and has been allowed more time to build into his preparation, and Bergerson was buoyed by what he saw on Thursday.

“We brought him up in the winter and he just wasn’t doing as well as we would have liked, it was hard to keep condition on and he was very backward in the coat, so we gave him another good break and we are really pleased to see him return like that,” Bergerson said.

“He is obviously a talented horse on his day, he is a gelding now as well. Opie (Bosson) rode him, who has done a lot of work with him over the last couple of years, and he was stoked and said he felt great and loved being out there. I am really pleased with how he returned.”

Bergerson said they will likely try and utilise his rating before looking towards bigger targets, including the $750,000 Gr.3 Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic (1600m) at Ellerslie on Karaka Millions night in January.

“He has only won a maiden at Wanganui and is rated 81,” Bergerson said. “We will probably have to kick him off low in a handicap, but we would love to get him to the Aotearoa Classic on Karaka Millions night. His best races have been at Ellerslie, and it is a nice race for him. Fingers crossed we can get him to that.”

Bergerson was also pleased with the trials of La Dorada (NZ) (Super Seth) and Damask Rose (NZ) (Savabeel). The pair had a couple of trials in late winter, but their trainers elected to back off and bypass the early spring with them, and they are hoping their decision will bear fruit over the coming months.

“They both had two trials (at the start of the season) and sort of struggled through the winter,” Bergerson said. “The trials were a bit flat, so we gave them a bit longer and missed that early spring, and hopefully from their trials yesterday we are back on track with them, especially Damask Rose, I really liked her trial.

“These tracks have dried out, and we have got some good work into them. Like He Who Dares, hopefully they are in for a good later spring and summer.”

While stakes targets await the trio of triallers, a more immediate black-type target looms for stablemate Top Shelf (NZ) (Savabeel), who will bid to score her maiden stakes scalp in next Tuesday’s Gr.3 Elsdon Park Balmerino Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie.

The daughter of Savabeel hasn’t put a foot wrong so far in her 14-start career, posting four wins and eight placings, including runner-up in the Gr.2 David and Karyn Ellis Fillies Classic (2000m) and Gr.3 Easter Handicap (1600m), and third in the Listed Kaimai Stakes (1600m) two starts back.

She bounced back to win over a mile at Ellerslie last weekend, and Bergerson is hopeful she can repeat that result on Melbourne Cup Day.

“She is multiple times stakes placed now, and she hasn’t had the rub of the green in all her runs,” he said. “Michael (McNab) certainly gave her a lovely ride last Saturday at Ellerslie and she has come through it with flying colours.

“Up to 2000m suits. She has to go up to weight-for-age now against some pretty hardened horses, but I think she is more than capable of taking that step.

“She gets her opportunity on Tuesday, and I am looking forward to it.”

On Saturday, Te Akau Racing will take just two runners to Tauranga, and Bergerson is particularly upbeat about the prospects of Emma Twigg (NZ) (El Roca) in the Aztech Signs 1300 following her two placings this time in.

“Her two runs have been really good,” he said. “She has that racing style where she needs a little bit of luck and last time at Rotorua those first two skipped around the corner, but she was making good ground late.

“It is probably a bit of a step up in terms of the strength of the opposition, but we think she is up to it, she is running really well, and Hayley (Hassman) knows her well. Hopefully she is there or thereabouts, and it would be nice to tick off a win there tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Bergerson said exciting three-year-old System Of Play (Ole Kirk) has bounced through his first career defeat, when sixth in last Monday’s Gr.2 James & Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) at Te Rapa, and he will continue on towards the Gr.2 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton in a fortnight.

“He is really good,” Bergerson said. “We were disappointed not to get the result, but still proud of the effort. When that horse came around him at the top of the straight and gave him a bit of a bump, he just lost his balance for a few strides and whacked himself behind a little bit as well. It took a while to balance up and get going, but I liked the way he got to the line in that last 100m.

“He is quite a laidback fella here at home, and even how he races, so potentially we will put blinkers on him in the 2000 Guineas. He has come through it really well and we are looking forward to the next few weeks with him.”

While System Of Play has drifted from a $3.50 favourite to $6 in the TAB’s futures market for the 2000 Guineas behind Excite and Coniston at $5, stablemate Asturia (NZ) (Almanzor) continues to dominate the Gr.1 Barneswood Farm New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) market at $1.90.

The daughter of Almanzor has won two of her three starts to date, including the Gr.2 Soliloquy Stakes (1400m), and she was runner-up to Old Fashioned (NZ) (Proisir) in the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) last month.

There has been plenty of interest in the filly, with her owners turning down a substantial offer for her earlier in the week, and they are hoping she can reward them in the 1000 Guineas at Riccarton on Saturday week.

“What she has done so far is very exciting and when we put the offer to the owners it was a unanimous no,” Bergerson said.

“We are excited to see her initially stay here in New Zealand and take on the 1000 Guineas down there. Beyond that I think the world is her oyster, as long as she continues to improve, which we think she will.

“I am really looking forward to next Saturday, she is building really well, and I think the Riccarton mile will really suit her. It’s all systems go.”