Greymouth Review Jan 14

This is the first year Westland Racing Club has raced at Omoto after the New Zealand Racing Authority forced its own track at Hokitika to close. The club had to choose between racing at KUmara and Omoto and it was a wise choice as the Kumara Club had problems with their track due to wet weather and boars digging up part of the back straight.

The track in Omoto 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 some when things got so much better.

That’s how it went;

Race 1 – Backed Grand Express and The Buffer on this; both raced on day 11 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 taking part. The favorite Expressive was having its fourth outing in nine days, so I pointed it out.

Result; Expressive won paying $3.50 and $1.30, The Buffer was second at $1.50 and Grand Express third at $1.50.

Race 2-Wynmoore, Crop and Bruzo were the ones I supported here with Crop at $4 being the lowest odds of the trio.

Wynmoore 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 was confident he would hold but Bruzo, who was last down the back straight, came out on the outside and beat Promising and Wynmoore well.

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

Race 3-Shadow King, Top Laurels, and Locally Sauced were the three I endorsed here. I was going to back The Bumper on a heavy track, but when the going went back to a slow 8, I cut him out. Shadow King won this by paying around $3.50 for a win. Top Laurels was disappointing, while Locally Sauced didn’t work out.

Race 4-This was a poor course but I thought 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 her fourth run. She had finished fourth at Reefton the previous Wednesday, so she was on a seven-day reserve. Secret Runner was the favourite; he was having his fourth start in nine days. He won over 2000m on Saturday and this time he was going back to 1500m which bummed me out.

Race 5 – This was another mixed race but I was rooting for Ripinroll who had finished fourth at Reefton the previous Wednesday and finished two lengths behind the winner that day. He came home for a nose here at odds of 8/1. Vee Twelve finished in second place. I supported this horse at Reefton but he was falling from a 2000m to 1500m race. Billy Mav was the other horse I supported and he was disappointing. He won over the course and distance in his previous outing.

Race 6-This was a weight-for-age race for fillies and mares but trainees 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 race with good odds on offer. I endorsed 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 them both because they had good odds, while Keep the Cash at 8/1 was worth backing on a slow track. Garment is a known wet tracker and she was going from a 1100m race on Saturday to a 1500m race plus the slow track and 3kg trainee claim was always going to satisfy her.

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