‘Close’ to perfection with G1 training debut on Cup Day

For a young harness racing trainer, it doesn’t get much better then achieving a G1 runner in any event.

But when you are deeply entrenched in the melting pot of the Canterbury harness racing community, to mark that milestone on New Zealand Trotting Cup Day would have to be right at the top of the list.

Robbie Close has only held a training license for a few years now and has never had many numbers around him, such is the nature of his full time driving commitments that have seen him salute the judge on 536 occasions. Tomorrow afternoon, at just start 46 as a trainer, Close will realise the goal of having Post Painter (Terror To Love) behind the mobile in his own colours as she contests the $200,000 G1 Nevele R Fillies Final.

“Cup week is always pretty special and I am happy to have a horse who is competitive in a big race. It’s my first time having a Group One runner as a trainer,” said Close.

“It’s pretty special to have my colours out there in a race of that calibre. She needs a bit of luck to go her way and she might fill a place, but I am happy just to be out there. It’s a goal we set out at the start of the campaign and we have achieved that so we are pretty happy,” he said.

The lightly tried daughter of Terror To Love has had just the thirteen lifetime starts for two wins and four placings and has shown herself to be a filly with a sharp turn of foot and more than competitive against the best in her age group.

Having qualified for the time honoured final with a slashing second behind Treacherous Baby (Captaintreacherous) back in September, Close has had the benefit of being able to set her for the big dance on Cup Day as he would like which has included a last start win at Kaikoura.

Close admits to always having had a bit of time for his stable star.

“I have had her since she was a late yearling, early two-year-old. She came to me through a couple of good mates who asked me to train her. I took a wee share in her and she has shown us a bit of ability from the word go.

“I actually thought she would make the Sires Stakes final as a two-year-old but she just came to the end of it and weakened off at the back end of the campaign. We then set her a target for the Southland Oaks and she achieved that with no luck in the running from a bad draw. 

“Everything has ticked along pretty nicely with her to date and it’s the biggest races like the Nevele R Fillies Final that you want to be targeting with a three-year-old filly and I have been doing my best to get her there in a healthy and happy frame of mind which I think we’ve done,” he said.

Having driven a G1 winner in 2022 behind Better Talk Art (Bettor’s Delight) in the NZ Standardbred Breeders Stakes and multiple Group race successes including a couple behind the Robert & Jenna Dunn trained Dalton Shard (Always B Miki) en route to Cup Week, I posed the question as to the challenges in gearing one up as opposed to simply taking the reins on race day.

“It is a different challenge. You have to think about a lot more variable like how to train them to get them ready, it’s a whole different feeling and I’ve got nobody else to blame but myself at the conclusion of a race.

“I’ve always talked to Regan, he was the one who got me going and told me to get my trainers license a few years ago. The way he trained and being a good mate I have always had some good support in that regard. Then I have my aunty and uncle, Bernie (Hackett) and Michelle (Wallis) who I talk too quite a lot.

“I cant thank them enough as well for helping me along the way. There is a lot of people out there who have always supported me, my family and even Andrew Stewart who I work for has been great as well,” he said.

With the favoured runners Duchess Megxit (Sweet Lou) and Treacherous Baby not faring as well as Close (drawn 5, into 4) in the barrier draws, Post Painter will have some options as the mobile gait leaves the back straight. Whether he is able to work forward and find the markers is anyones guess, but it goes without saying that with a solid tempo and a nice trip in transit, his filly has the ability to make her presence felt at the finish.

“If everything went to plan, I would be happy to fall asleep tonight and wake up in the one-one tomorrow following a hot tempo,” he laughed.

“She has got a good draw , but it’s one of those races you have to play by ear and you cant make too much of a plan before you get out there because plan ‘a,b and c’ can end up being b, f and g.

“She can do a bit of work in the running but probably in a race like this we are better not too. I’d rather see over a longer trip, but if they go hard like they can do, I think she is capable of getting over the top of a few,” he said.

A few hours after lining his first G1 runner up as a a trainer, Close gets his second tilt at New Zealand Trotting Cup glory when he takes the reins behind Mo’unga in the million dollar feature.

Close piloted Terry (Terror To Love) to a creditable eighth placed finish back in 2021, and has the horse power in front of him to markedly improve on that position should things fall his way.

“I cant thank Regan and Cam enough, they are some of my best mates. To have a horse of his calibre in a race of that magnitude, I cant thank them enough. He is a cool horse and hopefully he just keeps improving like he has done all season.

“My favourite place to be in a race is three the fence. You can put them to sleep and if you get the right gaps at the right time, it will be an interesting race. You cant go into it too confident and you just have to play it by ear and the first plan of attack is to get him away safely,” he said.

For complete Addington Cup Day fields, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink