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#2
02-20-2013, 06:17 AM
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FIX
 3 f Iffraaj - Destined Breeder: Frantic Bloodstock & Haunui Farm Owner: G E Harding Trainer: Ken & Bev Kelso Jockey: Mark du Plessis 10 starts 6 wins 0 seconds 2 thirds Major races: 1st Eight Carat Classic G2 1st Royal Stakes G2 1st Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic G2 Best replay to watch: Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic, Te Rapa, 9 February http://www.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/4...ce-Detail.aspx Derby odds: 6.00 (equal 2nd fav) + She's looked amazing winning three G2s in a row. + Has loads of courage and determination - tough battles down the stretch seem to bring out the very best in her. + Undefeated in three starts at Ellerslie - two at G2 level. - Although Silent Achiever did it last year, fillies don't have a great winning record in the Derby in recent years. - She's yet to race against the boys in stakes company. - Slight doubt over her stamina. - Rider Vinnie Colgan chose Habibi The Derby was never really considered as an option for Fix until recently - she wasn't even nominated, and now her connections have to pay a more than $20,000 late-entry fee. But her entry adds a ton of interest to the race, as she brings into it a fantastic string of wins in some of NZ's strongest 3-year-old-filly races. She's been outstanding, and she has earned her chance in the big one. If she can run out a strong 2400m, she's going to be hard to beat - she's proven she's an ultra-competitive filly with a huge amount of ability. 
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#3
02-20-2013, 02:55 PM
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Quote:
Good luck, ed!!! Thanks again for all your hard work. At this (early) point if one horse were to upset would you have one you'd want it to be? I think as of right now mine is Zinko. Cannot see him beating a few of the probables BUT right at this moment? It's a fun thought!
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#4
02-20-2013, 09:18 PM
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Zinko has the pedigree to love the distance, so you could be right! He's never run a bad race in his life, and I'm sure he won't in the Derby either.
My upsetter might be a horse called Alert. We'll get to him in a day or two. 
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#5
02-20-2013, 09:32 PM
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Interview with Zinko's trainer:
http://www.nzracing.co.nz/SystemTemp...ArticleID=5358
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#6
02-20-2013, 11:05 PM
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Quote:
Okay Alert? You need to keep me up to date! Getting closer... SO exciting!
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#7
02-21-2013, 12:40 AM
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First, yet another filly.
SORIANO  3 f Savabeel - Call Me Lily Breeder: D Howell Owner: D Howell Trainer: Graeme & Debbie Rogerson Jockey: ??? (was Opie Bosson, but he's gone for Castlzeberg) 14 starts 2 wins 4 seconds 2 thirds Major races: 1st Eulogy Stakes G3 2nd Eight Carat Classic G2 2nd Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic G2 3rd Royal Stakes G2 Best replay to watch: Eulogy Stakes, Awapuni, 15 December http://www.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/4...ce-Detail.aspx Derby odds: 14.00 + Not further back than 3rd in her last six starts, all in stakes class. + Very stamina-heavy pedigree and running style. - Again, the not-so-great record for fillies in the Derby in recent years. - 0-3 against Fix this season, and she has to face that filly again here. - Hasn't taken on the boys in a stakes race so far this season. If it hadn't been for Fix, Soriano would probably be the dominant horse through the 3-year-old-filly races this summer - she just keeps being narrowly beaten by her. This could be her best chance of turning the tables on Fix, since it seems like the 2400m will suit her heaps better than it will Fix. But then there's Habibi and a big group of high-class male horses too, and she hasn't faced any of them yet. She could finish strongly into a minor placing, but it's just a bit hard to see her winning this one.
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#8
02-22-2013, 03:09 AM
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And here he is...
ALERT  3 g Zabeel - Kay's Awake (multiple G1-placed mare) Breeder: Monovale Holdings Ltd Owner: Te Akau Stud Trainer: Jason Bridgman Jockey: Matthew Cameron 6 starts 1 win 2 seconds 1 third Major races: None Best replay to watch: Maiden win, Ellerslie, 12 December http://www.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/4...ce-Detail.aspx Derby odds: 16.00 + All-time great NZ sire (sire of three NZ Derby winners: St Reims, Helene Vitality and Zonda), and his dam was second or third in three G1 races behind the likes of Seachange and Darci Brahma. + Running style looks ideally suited to a mile and a half. + Seems to be steadily approving and set to peak on Derby day. + Te Akau, Bridgman, Cameron is a champion combination. - Untested against this class of opposition. With the Kentucky Derby, people every year talk about a 'wise-guy horse' outside the favoured group. If there was one of those in the 2013 New Zealand Derby, it would have to be Alert. He's been steadily improving in the lower grades, slowly but steadily creeping upwards under everyone's radar. He has the pedigree ($150,000 yearling), and he has the owner-trainer-jockey combination. But he hasn't run against anything close to the class of horse he'll be taking on in the Derby, so he has to take a massive step up. But the way he's been running lately just makes it look like he might be capable of doing it. He just might spring a monumental Derby upset.
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