Te Akau Matamata Preview

Te Akau New Zealand has four horses entered for the eight-race programme on Wednesday May 7 at Matamata.

As on Tuesday May 6 the conditions were: cloudy and Slow9, rail out 9.5 metres.

12:25pm R1 5 Red on Black (4 g Red Clubs - Palais Jamai) - Alex Forbes; is preparing for a jumps' campaign and resumes off 406-days, and two preparatory trials, in the Maiden 2100 metres.

2:45pm R4 13 Natalie (3 f Minstrel Court - Nat the Brat) - Matt Cameron; makes her debut from barrier twelve in the Maiden 1200 metres. A filly destined to get over more ground, she trialled quite nicely on similar footing over 850 metres recently at Te Awamutu. Her dam Nat the Brat (Racing Is Fun) impressed winning on slow/heavy footing through the autumn and winter months and included wins in the Cornwall Handicap (Gr. 3, 2200m) and Rotorua Cup (Gr. 3, 2300m) amongst her five stakes victories. Natalie is a half-sister to talented staying horses Natsinga (Danasinga) and Pump Up The Volume (Savabeel).

3:20pm R6 3 Secret Whisper (5 g Align - Danewhisper) - Alex Forbes; worked home nicely in a recent trial over 1150 metres on slow footing at Te Awamutu, and resumes off 131-days in the Benchmark 75 1400 metres. A course winner at a mile on his home track, with two wins over 1400 metres, he has shown to appreciate footing in this range and can act in a fresh state - one of two in the race for Te Akau.

3:20pm R6 6 Orinto (4 m Iffraaj - The Perfurme Garden) - Matt Cameron; comes off a similar break of 167-days, ended her previous campaign with a solid win here over 2000 metres on good footing, and she finished fourth in a strong trial recently at Cambridge. She has solid form, including a win, on slow ground over 1400 metres and like her stable-mate has acted fresh up.