Urenui to appreciate rain-affected going
Fine weather is forecast for Wellington ahead of Trentham’s postponed meeting on Thursday, but New Plymouth trainer Debbie Harris is hoping the track doesn’t dry out too much.
Initially set to take place on Saturday, the meeting was postponed due to track conditions following heavy rain, and the track remains a Heavy10, which would ideally suit Harris’ wet track specialist Urenui (NZ) (Derryn), who will contest the Aztech Engineering 1500.
The six-year-old son of Derryn will be second up following his fourth placing over 1360m at Wanganui a fortnight ago, and Harris has been pleased with his progression.
“He has been working really well, I am pretty happy with him,” she said.
It will be Urenui’s first appearance at Trentham, but the five-hour drive from her Taranaki base doesn’t concern Harris, and she said he will lap up the rain-affected going.
“He has never actually raced at Wellington before, but I can’t see the track being an issue at all, he does love the mud,” she said.
“We will go down on the day and he travels well, so there are no concerns there.”
Urenui’s chances have also been aided by the presence of a couple of high-rated horses, bringing his impost down to 55kg.
“He will appreciate that (weight), it is always a good help on the Heavy tracks,” Harris said.
Harris doesn’t have any set plans for Urenui over winter but is hopeful she can set her sights high.
“It would be nice to be winning a nice distance race somewhere, but we won’t do anything silly just yet, we will just see how he goes,” she said.
Meanwhile, Urenui’s three-year-old half-sister Herding Cats (NZ) (Time Test) may make her debut for Harris at Waverley on Saturday.
The Time Test filly has had two trials to date, including a runner-up effort over 1200m at Foxton last week.
“She is still just a baby and has got a lot to learn, it will be a learning experience for her,” Harris said.
“She is coming up okay, I think she will need a bit of ground pretty quickly. She doesn’t have the speed that he (Urenui) has got but she wants to be there, I am pretty happy with her.”
