Matamata trainer Graham Richardson’s decision to stay closer to home this weekend with his talented winter galloper Roly Poly could reap rewards in the $17,500 Freight Lines Te Awamutu Cup.

Roly Poly Could roll the topweights in Te Awamutu Cup

By John Jenkins

Richardson was tossing up whether to head south with Roly Poly for a $16,000 Rating 90 1400-metre sprint at Awapuni on Saturday or stay in the Waikato and run him in the feature race at the Waipa meeting. He has opted for the latter after weighing up the opposition in each race.  “It’s a pretty good little field down at the Marton meeting whereas there are only five horses rated above the minimum in the Te Awamutu Cup,” Richardson said this week.

“The horse (Roly Poly) has done very well since his last start and he’s been placed on the Te Awamutu track before so we’ll have a go there.”  Richardson said the 1400-metre distance at Awapuni probably suits Roly Poly better than 1580 metres at Te Awamutu but thinks the tight turning track there should negate the distance concern.  His biggest fear is that the Te Awamutu track may become puggy and Roly Poly needs either a dead track or one that is loose. “The track was too puggy at Tauranga last start and he just doesn’t like puggy tracks.”

Two starts back Roly Poly finished fifth in an open 1400-metre race at Ellerslie and would have probably finished a lot closer had his rider not lost his whip.  “I didn’t blame the rider for losing the whip. It was an atrocious day and a clod of mud flung up and knocked the whip out of his hand,” Richardson added.  Promising apprentice Alysha Collett rode Roly Poly last start and has retained the mount on Saturday. Richardson said the horse is fairly easy to ride and can position himself anywhere in a field.  Four starts back Roly Poly was an easy winner over 1400 metres at Tauranga and his overall record stands at four wins, four seconds and two thirds from just 25 starts.

Hurricane Mickey, Cent Per Cent and Sircross look to be three of the main rivals for Roly Poly on Saturday, with Llancaden another lightweight chance.  Hurricane Mickey will definitely run out the 1580 metres better than most and the likelihood of a heavy track will not worry him. He beat a good field over 1560 metres at Rotorua three starts back and was a close second behind Don Dixit over 1600 metres at Tauranga last start.

Sircross is the likely pacemaker and could be hard to catch if allowed to dictate his own rules in front. He blitzed the opposition by six lengths when winning over 1600 metres on that very testing track at Ellerslie two starts back. He then found 2100 metres a bit too far at Tauranga last start but will appreciate the drop back in distance here.  Cent Per Cent got bogged down on an extremely heavy track at Ellerslie last start but his form before that was good, including a game win over 1400 metres on a good track at Te Rapa. He has had one start at Te Awamutu for a win.

Llancaden is the winner of five races, four of them on heavy tracks. He has been carrying big weights in Rating 80 and Rating 90 races of late and will appreciate the drop down to 54kg on Saturday.  One for longer odds could be Danz Star. He is now a nine-year-old but won this race two years ago on a heavy track and finished second in an 1150-metre Te Awamutu trial last month.