Holmes’ trotting trio form strong book at Rangiora

Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 16) harness racing action heads to Rangiora for its mid-November twilight meeting with an action-packed eight race programme kicking off at 3:06pm.

Leithfield Beach trainer, Robbie Holmes, takes a strong team of trotters on the short float ride south down State Highway One and looks to have a couple of solid winning chances, starting with a daughter of Sundon in the second on the card.

Three-year-old trotting filly Sinner Cool is a well-related daughter of our greatest ever trotting sire, out of a Love You mare who is a product of one of the best maternal families in the studbook.

Sinner Cool’s dam, Eilish Aimee is a full sister in blood to G1 winner, Amore Stride, as well as being a half-sister to another G1 winner in Earl Of Mot (Earl).

The rich maternal family developed by Wellington breeder, Ivan McNicholl, extends to the likes of NZ Trotting Oaks winner Ella Powell (Earl) and Harriet Hughes (Sundon), dam of the enigmatic dual G3 winner Harriet Of Mot (Monarchy) and champion three-year-old and 2022 Dominion place getter, Five Wise Men (Muscle Hill).

Sinner Cool is the only trotter in New Zealand bred on the reverse cross of the most potent winners to starters ratio in the last decade, being Love You x Sundon, and has inherited some of the family ability.

“She has a bit of that Sundon too her,” said Holmes.

“She’s just coming strong now and started showing a little bit in her last preparation. I wasn’t too disappointed with her last start at Ashburton, it was a nice field, and they went 3:04 for a mile and a half which is a good time for the maidens from a stand. They got home in 58 and 28 so I wasn’t overly disappointed.

“She went a super race at Kaikoura and ended up sitting parked for a good duration of it and she found the line well to run equal third. She has trained on to be honest and I don’t think she will be too far away today. She can step away, we just have to nurse her around the first bend a wee bit, but she should be right there at the finish.

“At each start she is still learning, and she is one to watch in the future,” he said.

As alluded too by Holmes, Sinner Cool meets much easier opposition today having taken on some deep Canterbury maiden fields of late and is abetted by a front line draw to work with. She has firmed from her original quote of $4.50 and is now into $3.80 four hours from start time.

Her main dangers likely include the now Gavin Smith trained Rakero Warrior (Bettor’s Delight) and the Greg and Nina Hope trained blue blood, Instant Classic (Muscle Hill) but has the ringcraft to give todays assignment a massive shake.

Race four sees the return of TK Megastar, a pocket rocket daughter of Royal Aspirations who was ultra-impressive in just two race day starts, both of which were at Rangiora back in May.

The three-year-old filly contested the well supported Anne Thompson Memorial Graduation Series and after a professional debut where she missed narrowly running second by a head, went one better in the $18,000 final, downing NZ Record holder Ti Amo Belle (Love You) in the process.

TK MEGASTAR REPLAY

“She floored me a little bit in regard to how she stepped up and ran those first two races,” said Holmes.

“She is a wee professional and I have a lot of time for her, she grew a wee bit over the winter with her time out, and she is one I certainly have a bit of time for.

“We had a few issues with her in regard to her joints blowing up due to quick growth of spring grass and have kind of been on the back foot the whole way through this prep. Ideally, I was hoping to have had a race or two with her by now, but she is one who is pretty natural with her gait and ability wise.

“She has trained on from her first prep and we were going to go to the trials at Ashburton before spotting today’s field which she slots into quite comfortably, and safely through today she will go to the New Zealand Trotting Oaks on the 25th of November at Addington,” he said.

TK Megastar has an impressive maternal pedigree of her own hailing from the Sundon line, and her mating with Royal Aspirations is one that is sure to get any breeding buff fizzed up when looked at on paper.

It’s been well documented the outstanding job that Royal Aspirations is doing at stud, and Holmes has been suitably impressed by what he has seen from the Canterbury bred stallion.

“I have actually and to be perfectly honest I do like them, as a sire he is doing a great job for what he has put on the ground so far.” -Robbie Holmes.

The sixth on the card sees the resumption of a last start G2 placegetter in Capaha (Pegasus Spur).

He meets a hot field of two-year-old trotters, most of whom are headed towards their respective G1 features on Grand Prix day at Addington next month. Capaha resumes on the back of a tidy trial victory a fortnight ago and will no doubt improve with the run.

“It is a nice field,” said Holmes.

“He’s just sort of finding his feet a little bit and he is kind of there for experience today to be honest. Looking at that field they will probably be getting over top of him, but he has good gait speed, and he just has to trot the journey and do everything right and it will be a good confidence builder for him.

“He certainly has a motor; he just takes a wee while to get himself back into the zone to be honest. That has sort of happened each time we have taken him out. Prior to that second behind High Energy in the 2YO Trotting Stakes, he actually made mistakes at the trials, and he is just gone through that transition now. He is a big fella, and he just has to fill his frame and he will do that more into his three-year-old career one would be thinking,” he said.

Holmes is experiencing one of the best UDR seasons of his career and while his numbers are lighter than in previous years, the quality of his team is shining through for all to see.

His UDR sits at .2118, the best mark since 2013 and despite only training the 10 winners, Holmes has had 23 placings to boot from just 96 starts.

With the likes of Kahress (Muscle Hill) and Light Of Da Moon (One Over Da Moon) and his talented bunch of trotters at Rangiora today, those numbers will only improve with 6 weeks remaining in the season.

For complete Rangiora fields, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink