Te Akau NZ Te Rapa Preview

Te Akau New Zealand has two horses entered for the ten-race programme on Saturday May 4 at Te Rapa.

As at 8:26am on Thursday May 2 the conditions were: overcast and Dead6, rail out four metres.

4:06pm R9 2 Riedel (3 g Saperavi - La Conga) - Matt Cameron; travelled up boldly from back in the field, sustaining a strong finish for second when fresh-up on April 15 in the Benchmark 65 1400 metres on Dead5 at Avondale. Up to a mile, from barrier four, further improvement from his resuming run should make him competitive in this field at his first course attempt. His dam recorded her best performance in three starts when fourth here, and his grand-dam, Bonnie Busker (Grosvenor), won here on dead footing over 2000 metres.

4:40pm R10 h1 Imperial Miss (4 m Shinko King - Nanset) - Michael Dee (a3); worked a bit hard near the pace yet still finished close up when resuming from a spell on April 20 in the Benchmark 75 1400 on Slow7 at Hastings. Rated 79 and handicapped to carry 59kgs in the Benchmark 75 1600 metres, the apprentice allowance reduces the burden to 56kgs. Ideally drawn in barrier four, she won on this course at her only attempt, over 1400 metres, second up in her first campaign and in a strong field has the ability to prove competitive.