A strong feature meeting at Gore tomorrow follows on from the brilliant racing in the South over the Christmas and New Year period. Here are some of the races on offer.
Robin Archer Memorial 1200m open sprint, at 3.29pm
Pippi Rea should find this a lot easier than the company he has been in lately.
The John and Karen Parsons-trained sprinter has raced in listed company in three of his last four starts.
Raise You Ten beat Pippi Rea home in the Hazlett Stakes and is clearly a danger to him.
However, they are highly likely to meet on a much drier track tomorrow.
Raise You Ten (second) was trailed home by Rocanto (fourth) in his excellent run in the Hazlett Stakes.
Rocanto continues to resurrect his form in the South and is another clear threat to Pippi Rea.
Saber should be highly competitive carrying 54kg and is next best.
Gore Cup 2000m open handicap at 4.04pm
Last month’s Tapanui Cup produced a nail-biting finish with Kilowatt edging out Riviera Rock and Gallant Boy.
There seems little reason why they and fourth placegetter Picture Me Rollin will not fight out the finish to this race.
It was hard not to be impressed with the effort of Gallant Boy, the only horse to race on the pace and fight out the finish to the Tapanui Cup.
He again must carry more weight than his rivals, but it may be a slightly easier task on a better track.
I have always liked Picture Me Rollin and think she could be better for her first try at 2000m in the Tapanui Cup.
Killowat and Riviera Rock must be included and rate almost on a par with Gallant Boy and Picture Me Rollin.
I expect a better run from Sitarist tomorrow. She was in grand form before her last-start failure at Invercargill.
Gore Guineas listed 3yr-old feature at 4.39pm
Miss Federer has a real edge in class over her rivals and I think that is enough to extinguish any concerns about her over 1355m.
The Gore track should perfectly suit the speedy filly, who should rail like a greyhound and be simply be too fast for her rivals.
If the distance is too much of a challenge, a strong line-up of challengers will be ready to pounce. They include fellow fillies Burgundy Rose and All About Magic.
El Gladiador, Charlie Awesome and Lightning Jack have claims as well.
But if the track is firm and Miss Federer is on her game her rivals could be fighting out the minor placings.
Those looking for a real roughie should consider $31 outsider Hot Tap. She was good enough to run in the group 1 New Zealand One Thousand Guineas and her last run at Waikouaiti was sound.
