Greymouth Review Jan 14

This is the first year since the Westland Racing Club has raced at Omoto after its own track in Hokitika was forced to close by the New Zealand Racing Authority. The club had the option of racing at KUmara and Omoto and it was a good choice as the Kumara Club struggled with their track with the wet weather and wild pigs digging part of the back straight.

Omoto’s track for this meeting was a slow 8 or slow 7, which was not bad considering the amount of rain in the district on Sunday, two days before this meeting.

I had originally ordered my horses for a heavy track, but had to change a few when things got a lot better.

This is how I went;

Race 1: I supported Grand Express and The Buffer in this; both raced on the 11th with Grand Express second and The Buffer seventh. The Buffer lost six lengths last time and finished five lengths behind the winner, so it was worth participating. The expressive favorite was having her fourth outing in nine days, so I pointed her out.

Outcome; Expressive won by paying $ 3.50 and $ 1.30, The Buffer was second with $ 1.50 and Grand Express third with $ 1.50.

Race 2: Wynmoore, Crop and Bruzo were the ones I supported here, with Crop at $ 4 as the shortest odds of the trio.

Wynmoore I thought you might like the slow track. Crop finished second at Reefton while Bruzo won on Saturday. So I supported him and decided to go with him again.

Wynmoore set the pace and he was sure it would hold, but Bruzo, who was last on the back straight, came on the outside and beat Promising and Wynmoore well.

Bruzo had a record of three wins in eleven starts, which was considerably better than most on the field.

Race 3: Shadow King, Top Laurels, and Locally Sauced were the three that I supported here. I was going to back The Bumper on a heavy track, but when the gear returned to a slow 8, I left it out. Shadow KIng won this by paying around $ 3.50 for a win. Top Laurels was disappointing, while Locally Sauced was unable to continue.

Race 4-This was a poor course but I thought that My Hugo, who won on Saturday, would win again, but I was disappointed. Are You Cereal won this, a maiden with Saturday maiden winners eligible to compete. Are You Cereal was only having its fourth career outing. He had finished fourth at Reefton the previous Wednesday, so he was on a seven-day reserve. Secret Runner was the favorite; he was having his fourth outing in nine days. He gained over 2000m on Saturday and this time he was falling to 1500m which put me off.

Race 5 – This was another mixed form race, but I supported Ripinroll, who had finished fourth at Reefton the previous Wednesday, finishing two lengths behind the winner that day. Came home for a nose here at 8/1 odds. Vee Twelve finished second. I supported this horse at Reefton, but he was falling from a 2000m to 1500m run. Billy Mav was the other horse I supported and he disappointed me. He won on the field and the distance in his previous outing.

Race 6 – This was a weight-for-age race for fillies and mares, but the apprentices could claim. Go figure! Anyway, in these races you go for the highest rated horses and in this race it was Ticket to Ride, Torre Del Greco and Dreaming Easy in that order. Torro DEl Greco won the Ticket to Ride race with Hazelnut third.

Race 7: This was an open affair with good odds on offer. I supported several, they were Keep the Cash, O’Shannon, Way Above and Garment.

O’Shannon and Way Above are Kevin Myers trained horses and I had to back both as they had good odds, while Keep the Cash at 8/1 was worth backing up on a slow track. Garment is a well known wet tracker and went from a 1100m race on Saturday to a 1500m race, plus the slow track and the 3kg apprentice claim always suited her well.

Garment led all the way at 25/1, Way Above finished second also at 25/1, Keep the Cash finished third at around 9/1