Tomorrow's Winton Cup meeting will be a day to remember for Woodlands horseman Robert Dennis no matter the result.
The Selection, in race 2, will be Dennis’s first starter under his new licence as a solo trainer.
He had previously trained in partnership with his uncles Joe, Martin and Ray Dennis, and father Tony.
"It’s very exciting. I felt like after such a successful season last season that the time is right," Dennis said.
The Selection is one of a 12-horse team Dennis is preparing.
"She doesn’t really put it in her trackwork, but when she is in company and when she has gone to the jumpouts she switches on big-time.
"I think a little bit of her. She is not a big horse, but I think she has got a bit of ability."
Dennis produced The Lustre and The Sparkle to win at last year’s Winton Cup meeting, in his former partnership.
The pair subsequently ran third and fourth in the New Zealand One Thousand Guineas.
The Selection could follow in their footsteps.
"The race is going to improve her and you don’t know until you get to race day."
Dennis also produced Nightcap to win on Winton Cup day last year. She went on to win another four races last season.
"For a $4000 buy [from the North Island] to come out and win five races, I was over the moon.
Whether she can take another step up as a 5yr-old ... we will see, but she will not have to improve too much to be a genuine open-class horse."
Nightcap meets a talented field of sprinters in the 1200m Central Southland Cup, her first attempt in open company, including Irish Excuse and Courte Zarindi.
"It is not a mug field, even though there are six horses in it," Dennis said.
"She seems well and she has been working well and is in great nick."
Courte Zarindi, recently crowned Southland horse of the year, will be having her first run as a 4yr-old.
The distance of 1200m looks short of her best, but she has class.
Irish Excuse and Timy Tyler have winning form.
Joe, Martin, Ray, and Tony Dennis have kept their training licence after ending their partnership with Robert. They will start The Publican in race 1.
Robert Dennis and The Dennis brothers’ runners will all be ridden by Kalai Selvan.
The Winton Cup field is headed by last year’s winner, Come Fly With Me. The Stephen Blair-Edie-trained mare will carry 60kg.
Blair-Edie produced Waimate Bill and Nesta from his Riverton stable to win at Timaru yesterday.
