Opulent Proves Autridge Right

The NZ Racing Desk reports ...

Matamata trainer Stephen Autridge was more than happy to be proven right when promising filly Opulent destroyed her rivals over 1400 metres at Ruakaka yesterday.

Autridge admitted he had a few people second-guessing his decision to drop the daughter of Keeper back to the 1400-metre journey after she had successfully broken out of the maiden grade over 1600 metres a fortnight earlier.

“I had a few telling me it wasn't the right thing to do after she had won over the mile but I was confident it was the right thing for her,” he explained.

“The only reason we had run her over a mile last time was that it was the only race available. We had her ready for a 1400-metre maiden at Hastings but she needs good ground so we scratched from there to go north where we knew she would get the right surface.”

A $205,000 David Ellis purchase at the 2013 National Yearling Sale at Karaka, Opulent had shown ability in her early starts although, frustratingly, had found plenty of bad luck before breaking her winning duck at her eighth start.

“She can really gallop but is a bit of a rogue at the barrier which was the root cause of most of her problems in those first few races,” Autridge said.

“She has jumped beautifully in her last two starts which has made all the difference as it's just too tough to be giving them a start all the time if you are slow away.

“I think she has a heap of potential so I'm mindful of not asking too much of her now before the tracks get better. I think she can definitely pick up a good race later in the year.”

Autridge, who prepares the powerful Te Akau Racing stable in conjunction with Jamie Richards, is itching for the better weather and tracks to arrive as he looks ahead to the new season with plenty of anticipation.

“We've got a number of very promising young horses coming through so we can't wait for the new season to arrive,” he said. â€œWe have a large team getting ready for the Te Teko trials in the first week of August so I'm itching to get cracking.”