Riccarton Guineas' Prospect in Action

The Informant reports:

Supporting races at Trentham on Saturday will serve as stepping stones towards Riccarton for a number of New Zealand 1000 and 2000 Guineas prospects.

In previous years this meeting has featured a 1400-metre race for three-year-olds, and in 2015 it was won by Xtravagant. A couple of weeks later, the flashy colt blew his rivals away with an eight-length romp in the New Zealand 2000 Guineas.

There is no identical race on this year's programme, so Xtravagant's former trainers Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards have instead picked out a 1400-metre Rating 65 event for their exciting Savabeel colt Embellish.

“In years gone by they've had a 1400-metre race for three-year-olds, and we used it very successfully with Xtravagant,” Autridge told The Informant. “This year the three-year-old race is over 1200 metres, which is too short for us. The Rating 65 suits us better.”

A full-brother to the Group One winner Diademe, Embellish was a $775,000 yearling purchase by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis. Second in his only start as a two-year-old, the colt resumed with a powerful maiden win at Ruakaka at the beginning of this month. Placegetters Ever Loyal and Power Dream have both been subsequent winners.

Embellish is currently an $8 second favourite in the TAB's fixed-odds market for the Al Basti Equiworld 2000 Guineas on November 11, with only his stablemate Te Akau Shark ($6) ahead of him.

“We're very happy with how Embellish is coming along,” Autridge said. “He's making great progress and we're hoping to have him at his peak for the 2000 Guineas.”