La Crique joins the Tarzino Trophy mix

Group One-winning racemare La Crique has joined the mix for spring feature racing on both sides of the Tasman with her return to the stable of trainers Katrina and Simon Alexander.
The rising five-year-old daughter of Vadamos was seen at her absolute best last October when charging away with the Gr. 1 Arrowfield Stud Plate on her home track Matamata following its weather-forced transfer from the middle day of the Hawke’s Bay spring carnival.
Having signed off her three-year-old season with a luckless second in the Gr. 1 New Zealand Derby, the Arrowfield win at weight-for-age over 1600m confirmed La Crique as one of the best of the New Zealand crop.
Either side of the Arrowfield Stud Plate, she finished third in the Gr. 1 Tarzino Trophy at Hastings and fourth in the Gr. 1 Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington. Her autumn campaign also comprised just three races, finishing fifth in the Gr. 1 BCD Group Sprint, second in the El Cheapo Cars WFA Classic and third in the Gr. 1 Bonecrusher NZ Stakes.
“Not everything went right for her last season, but it was important to get the Group One win that we all thought she deserved,” Katrina Alexander said.
“We’re thrilled with the horse she’s matured into, she’s grown a touch and is far stronger with a lot more depth. We’re not expecting her to be ready for the Foxbridge Plate (August 26), but if everything went to plan she could make the Tarzino.”
The opening day of the Hawke’s Bay carnival is scheduled for September 9, allowing 10 weeks for La Crique’s preparation to come together. Last year she started fresh-up in the 1400m feature off the back of two trial wins in August.
Alexander believes a big factor in her stable star’s favour is her new-found relaxed demeanour, something that regular jockey Craig Grylls concurred with after he had ridden her in pacework earlier this week.
“Physically she feels great and she’s a different horse just strolling around out there,” Grylls said. “If she stays that way she’ll make it a lot easier for her and us.”
La Crique has been a regular trackwork headliner through her 14-start career, the crucial bonus being that she replicates that enthusiasm on raceday.
“She does take a lot out of herself, in training and on raceday, so it would be a big help if she can continue like that as we step things up.
“Like most of the spring horses we’re going to be dictated by the weather and if things don’t work in our favour we’ve got the option of heading straight to Australia.”
La Crique is currently quoted at $12 on the TAB’s fixed odds market for the Tarzino Trophy, which is headed at $5 by fellow Matamata-trained Group One winners Imperatriz and Legarto.
Both returned to work several weeks ago and are pleasing connections with their progress.
“She’s coming along well, she’s seems bright and well in herself,” Mark Walker said of Imperatriz. “The plan is to have her first trial at Te Rapa on August 1 and maybe have another trial here, but she’ll more than likely be heading straight to Australia.
“We’ll have our new Cranbourne stable up and running by then and we’ll be concentrating on races in Melbourne. We had considered The Everest, but the tracks up in Sydney that time of year can get very wet, and we wouldn’t want to start in ground that doesn’t suit her.”
Ken and Bev Kelso remain open-minded on spring plans for Legarto, and the Tarzino Trophy is definitely part of them, due to some degree to the recent NZTR announcement of Group One minimum stakes of $400,000.
“The increased stake now makes the Tarzino worth more than the Let’s Elope Stakes, which is the race we had originally looked to kick her off in,” Ken Kelso said. “The Let’s Elope is a Group Two, which is also a consideration compared to the Tarzino at Group One, but it will all come down to track conditions.
“If Hastings looks like being a reasonable track we could go there, otherwise we’ll put her on the plane to Melbourne for the Let’s Elope a week later.”