Group One Mission Begins

The Informant reports:

Amid a tumultuous countdown to the Gr. 1 Rydges Wellington Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham tomorrow (Saturday), one thing that has remained constant is Abidewithme's Group One quest over the next two months.

The Captain Cook had been the target for leading contenders Rasa Lila and Hasselhoof ever since they performed with credit during the Hawke's Bay spring carnival, but pre-race speculation was turned upside down when both were surprisingly absent when nominations closed on Tuesday.

The multiple Group winner and Group One-placed Rasa Lila suffered a colic attack and had to undergo emergency surgery, while last-start Livamol Classic placegetter Hasselhoof pulled a plate and stood on it.

“It's been a very difficult time but thankfully it looks as though she's come through,” Rasa Lila's co-trainer Steven Ramsay said. “The vets have told us that luckily we caught it early and she got to the clinic in time.

“We're very disappointed to not be at Trentham for what we genuinely believed was a race she could win, but the main thing is it appears she will be okay.”

The high-profile absences have made Abidewithme's path slightly clearer as she tries to capture an elusive Group One win before her racing career draws to a close. The Redoute's Choice mare is in-foal to Tavistock and now has just over two months left in which to add the one missing element to her impressive CV.

“We're on track for the Captain Cook on Saturday and hoping she can pick up a Group One win, she deserves it,” co-trainer Stephen Autridge told The Informant earlier this week.

“She's thrived since Tauranga and she's one happy horse at the moment.”

Bred and raced by Cambridge Stud's Sir Patrick and Lady Hogan, Abidewithme has had 33 starts for nine wins, six placings and more than $440,000 in prize-money. Her career highlights to date have come in the Gr. 2 Travis Stakes in 2015 and in the Gr. 2 Tauranga Stakes three weeks ago, where she came from last to score a decisive win in a slowly run race. She has also won two Listed events and has twice been placed at Group One level.

“We're very pleased with how she's going heading into Saturday,” Autridge said. “She's thrived since Tauranga and she's one happy horse at the moment.”

Abidewithme will be ridden for the first time tomorrow by premiership-leading jockey Danielle Johnson. The winner of 36 races for the season to date, Johnson leads second-placed Johnathan Parkes by six.

Johnson has won three Group One races in her career, all of which have been over this course and distance. She won back-to-back runnings of the Captain Cook Stakes on Shuka in 2013 and 2014, and she also took out the 2015 Thorndon Mile aboard Puccini.

After contesting tomorrow's $200,000 weight-for-age feature, Abidewithme is likely to have a couple more Group One opportunities. The first of those will be at Ellerslie on Boxing Day in the Zabeel Classic - sponsored by her owner-breeders and named in honour of Cambridge Stud's legendary stallion. She will then sign off in New Zealand's richest weight-for-age race, the $400,000 Gr. 1 Herbie Dyke Stakes at Te Rapa on February 11.

Back