New Plymouth trainer Robbie Patterson is adamant the best of Secret Amour (NZ) (Niagara) is still to come.
A winner of five of her 15 starts and coming off a fast-finishing second placing behind Deerfield when resuming at Wanganui last month, Secret Amour will contest Saturday’s Gr.3 Grangewilliam Stud Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) at Hawera.
Patterson is again expecting big things from the six-year-old but is predicting that even bigger spoils could be waiting further ahead.
“She’s going really well. She only missed the Metric Mile at Awapuni because of the state of the track so we’ve just freshened her up a little bit to have her sharp enough for the 1400m and she’s been working really well. We’re pretty happy with her,” Patterson said.
“With her, everything is tempo related. We rely on them to get along at a genuine speed in front because she always gets back a little bit.
“As long as they tick along in front, you know she’ll be zipping home. If they walk in front, then she’d be in trouble but there does look to be a bit of pace in the race and I can see her finishing pretty strongly.”
TAB bookmakers have Secret Amour as a $3.80 second favourite behind Darci La Bella (NZ) (Darci Brahma) for the Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes and at $21 in their futures market for the Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) at Riccarton on November 9.
“She should be highly competitive on Saturday,” Patterson said.
“Darci La Bella is obviously a very good horse but she’s got to get 1400m and we’d like to think we’ve got the rest covered, but with a backrunner we just need to get the right breaks.”
Secret Amour began her career with Matamata trainer Jamie Richards before Wanganui farmer Scott Goodwin, who owns the mare, transferred her to Patterson, for whom she has yet to miss a placing in four starts.
Among those placings were a fast-finishing third in the Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes (1400m) and Listed AGC Training Stakes (1650m) at Wanganui before a winter break.
“She only had three weeks out and of that time, she had a week on the water-walker as well, so she retained a lot of residual fitness,” Patterson said.
“She went up to Don Mackinnon’s in Cambridge and then went around to Russell and Robyn Rogers for the water-walker there. She’s a pretty clean-winded horse so it’s just a matter of keeping her ticking over. We just have to gallop her once a week and that keeps her bang-on. She’s pretty well for Saturday.
“She really enjoys the smaller stable and getting that more hands-on attention. She’s a pretty nervy horse on raceday and I can really work my day around her and to have her with the right mental attitude.”
Safely through Saturday’s race, Patterson has pencilled Secret Amour in for a start in the Gr.3 Thompson Handicap (1600m) at Trentham on October 23 before a trip to Riccarton for the Coupland’s Bakeries Mile.
“She’s even better on top of the ground. The only reason I haven’t started her on a good track is because the track hasn’t been good on the days she’s been in,” Patterson said.
“The way she finishes on top of the ground, that really looks her best go. She’s got a really big sprint on her and I really think getting her up to 2000m will be her forte as well.”
Patterson’s other runner at Hawera is three-year-old filly Terziere (NZ), a first starter by Complacent, in the Egmont Tyres 3yo (1200m).
“I haven’t trialled her and she’ll need the run and the experience but she’s a really nice horse,” he said.
“Whatever she does, she’ll improve from but I can see her being in a Eulogy Stakes (1600m, Group Three at Awapuni on December 10) or something like that later on.”
Meanwhile, Patterson is pleased with the progress of stable stars Coventina Bay (NZ) (Shamexpress) and The Fearless One (NZ) (The Bold One) ahead of their upcoming campaigns.
“Coventina Bay is ready to gallop now. She’s done three weeks on the water-walker and a good month riding. She’s come up better this year than she did last year. She’s a lot more fluid and smoother in her action this time,” Patterson said.
“The Fearless One has only just come back into work. We had to get his vocal cord lasered but the operation was successful. It had just collapsed in his airway and he was restricting his breathing but after the laser treatment, he’s breathing normally again.”
Patterson said dual Group One winner Coventina Bay would resume at Trentham in December leading into a second-up run in the Gr.2 Manawatu Challenge Stakes (1400m) at Awapuni on December 17.
She will then head to the Gr.1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) at Trentham on January 28 before attempting to defend her titles in the Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa on February 11 and the Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2050m) at Pukekohe on March 11.
