Te Akau Avondale Preview

Te Akau New Zealand has four horses entered for the nine-race programme on Wednesday Oct. 15 at Avondale.

As on Tuesday Oct. 14 the conditions were: fine and Dead4, rail true.

2.35 p.m. R5 12 Imperium (3 g Encosta De Lago - Ethereal) - Matt Cameron; makes his debut in the Maiden 1400 metres. Circling from off the pace, he won a trial over 1200 metres on Sept. 9 at Cambridge. And more recently he worked home nicely for fourth when trialling here over 1200 metres on Sept. 25, despite finding the heavy going a test. His dam Ethereal (Rhythm), from Romanee Conti (Sir Tristram), won stakes of over $6 million and included four Group One wins: Queensland Oaks (Gr. 1, 2400m), Caulfield Cup (Gr. 1, 2400m), Melbourne Cup (Gr. 1, 3200m), and BMW (Gr. 1, 2400m). Although destined to get over ground, on pedigree and type, he has the right genes to run a race no matter the trip.

4.20 p.m. R8 7 Rapid Gain (5 g Flying Spur Occasional Gain) - Matt Cameron; was unable to improve his position from well back in the field when resuming on Sept. 6 in the Rating 75 1340 metres on Dead6 at Wanganui. Having recorded two of his three wins over this trip, stepping to 1400 metres second up appears ideal and the prospect of good footing works in his favour - one of three in the race for Te Akau.

2.30 p.m. R8 14 Clos De Tart (5 m Darci Brahma - Rapid Kay) - Lee Magorrian (a3); trialled in August in at Te Teko, and resumes off 112-days. Showing to act in a fresh state when winning on debut, and emulating her impressive winning dam Rapid Kay (Towkay) by racing solidly last spring, she ran a very good fourth to Katie's Cove (Zabeel) at her only course attempt, in April, and with weight relief to 52.5kg can produce a bold run with luck in running from a wide draw.

2.30 p.m. R8 15 Show No Emotion (5 m Pins - Lynisky) - Josh Oliver (a3); like her stable-mate, above, she too resumes here from a break of 130-days and has drawn favourably in barrier two. Also claiming three-kilos to 52.5kgs, she can act fresh-up and finished third to Stella's Honour (O'Reilly) at her only start here. She recorded her maiden win over 1400 metres following a nice trip in midfield on the inner from barrier one and should receive a similar passage again.