Te Akau Matamata Preview

Te Akau New Zealand has three horses racing on Wednesday 2 May at Matamata.

As on Tuesday 1 May the conditions were: fine and Heavy10, rail out 4 metres. No rain forecast.

12.49 p.m. R2 1 Master Painton (3 g Reliable Man - Abbey Tralae) - Opie Bosson; finished second to subsequent stakes placed Hanger (O'Reilly) in the Maiden 1400 metres here on 28 March, and now registered three seconds from six starts. His dam, Abbey Tralae (Traditionally), impressed winning in May on Slow8, and he appears a solid each way chance from barrier six in the $10,000 Maiden Colts & Geldings 1400 metres.

2.24 p.m. R5 14 Witchery (3 f Savabeel - Now the World) - Shafiq Rusof; trialled strongly for third on heavy going at Waipa, 17 April, and debuts from barrier five in the $10,000 Maiden 1200 metres. Her dam, Now the World (Flying Spur), has left four individual winners of 14 races, with an ability to act on rain-affected going, while second dam Light Up The World (Rory's Jester) was a multiple Group winner in Australia. She has the right credentials to produce a bold first up effort.

3.34 p.m. R7 4 Qian Gua (3 g Cape Blanco - Cool Diamonds) - Opie Bosson; made it back-to-back wins here with a strong performance on Heavy10 in the Rating 65 1600 metres on 18 April, and steps in distance for the $11,000 Rating 70 2000 metres. The strength of opposition has increased with the rise in grade and while never easy to complete a hat-trick, he looks ideally placed to prove competitive.