If Australian racegoers are not familiar with the New Zealand four-year-old gelding Hasselhoof, they soon will be over the next few days.
I first wrote about the horse back in September last year and he hasn’t disappointed in three wins since, taking his career record to an enviable six from six.
Trainer Donna Logan had harvested thoughts of a hit and run Spring mission to Melbourne last year but perhaps wisely opted to bid her time with the big horse after a win at Ruakaka over 2100m last September. This could best be described as a tradesman-like performance rather than a spectacular victory.
He resumed in mid December over 1400m and won convincingly before claiming his biggest race win in the Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie (Group 2) over 1600m nineteen days later.
He was quite easy in the betting prior to the start of the race, possibly due to the state of the track which had deteriorated throughout the day due to rain.
But he produced another quite stunning performance, stalking the pace and hitting the lead in the straight. He looked to have some serious challengers at about the 300m mark, but dug deep and was actually lengthening his winning margin on the line.
To win a Group class race by 2.5 lengths at a first attempt is no mean feat ,and once again he showed that not only does he have the acceleration to compete at a high level, but also the fighting qualities so necessary to defy quality opposition.
Crossing the Tasman to Australia is a whole new ball game, with the vagaries of travel and unfamiliar surroundings very capable of upsetting the balance of any horse. And those that have managed to conquer their Australian counterparts on debut have quite often ‘flown under the radar’ so to speak.
Expectations in Australia of some New Zealand horses have often been lukewarm at best and reputations haven’t always demanded these type of headlines. For instance even the great Sunline didn’t arrive with a massive boom on her, before she strolled away to win her debut run here.
After six wins and a combined winning margin of 20 lengths, and with a name and physique that attracts attention, there is no way in the world that ‘The Hoof’ is going to go around unnoticed by rival jockeys and trainers on Saturday.
And even if he did, our betting agencies leave the punting public in no doubt of their opinion with opening quotes of well under $3, the closest to him in betting at $7 – over twice his price.
So what are his chances on Saturday? It’s very hard to line up the New Zealand form to ours, but what we can say is that Hasselhoof is probably one of the top four gallopers in New Zealand at present, maybe even top two.
That assumption is largely based on his last start win, where he defeated the likes of Consensus and Rasa Lila. The benchmark horses in New Zealand right now (at 1400m or more), are the five-year-old gelding Kawi, and the four year old mare Stolen Dance, who have met and quinellaed two separate Group 1 WFA races in recent times with Kawi victorious on both occasions.
Both Consensus and Rasa Lila had been very competitive with Stolen Dance at level weights prior to their meeting against Hasselhoof in the Rich Hill Mile. Hasselhoof gave both a beating, and comes up as a 2.5kg superior horse to both those mares if you factor in the weights all three carried in that race.
Stolen Dance is no more than a 1kg superior horse to Rasa Lila, and perhaps slightly more superior to Consensus. Also consider that the aforementioned Kawi gave Turn Me Loose a galloping lesson at WFA level in New Zealand before that horse came and conquered here in the Spring. It suggests the form at the top level in New Zealand is pretty strong.
The best performed runners in the Gardenia Handicap on Saturday are the top weighted Group 3 winner Beyond Thankful (a Group 3 and Listed winner) and Ruling Dynasty (Listed winner).
Both are resuming from a spell and not noted first up performers. You could also throw the bottom weight into the mix too off a 1.4 Length fourth in the Group 2 Villiers Stakes at this Track and distance in December.
But other than that Hasselhoof really meets a bunch of horses who are still yet to take the step to winning in listed grade.
So is he harshly weighted here with 58.5kg? I would say probably not, and the fact he has had two runs back from a spell is advantageous, as is his physique (nearly 17 hands tall) which lends itself to carrying decent weights.
He has also drawn beautifully in barrier three which suits his ‘ stalking’ style of racing. There are quite a few horses in this race that also like to race in that manner, so it will be interesting to see just what tactics are employed.
His biggest asset is probably his versatility – an ability to race on the pace, or sit midfield, so jockey Matt Cameron has options.
If you don’t have him as your top selection in this race just what do you consider? There are a host of horses in the race that appear quite evenly matched including Medcaut, Zin Zan Eddie, Great Esteem, Snippets Land, Marenostro and Moral Victory who have interconnected formlines.
All are capable of racing near the pace, with the latter horse almost certain to lead at a track that he does like.
If the track is slow or worse the bet of that sextet are almost certainly Zin Zan Eddie, Snippets Land and Marenostro. If the track is firmer the edge would appear to be with Medcaut, Great Esteem and Moral Victory.
It will be interesting to see how the Godolphin import Arab Land performs, but on face value he doesn’t appear to be anything special. The same could be said for fellow Australian debutante Libran from the Chris Waller yard, who has met that horse and been defeated comfortably on one occasion.
Ruling Dynasty is the interesting horse that seems way over priced at $41. This four-year-old stallion is the type of horse quite likely to improve dramatically this autumn, and his first up run last preparation was admirable when placed on a Slow track here at this distance. He has the benefit of patience bestowed by the late, great Bart Cummings (co-trainer with James), and could be about to realise his potential. He also handles all track conditions.
Summing up though if Hasselhoof has travelled well and adjusts well to racing here he should just about win .That is the million dollar question that still requires answering. Donna Logan has had extensive experience travelling her horses across the Tasman, so that is at least of some comfort.
So what odds are acceptable? My feeling is $2.75 and that isn’t available with most betting agencies as I write this.
And is David Hasselhoff really going to be at Randwick to witness his namesake in the flesh? Now that would be something!
This is hardly the type of race I would ordinarily consider previewing, but it’s hands down my most interesting horse race this weekend.
1. Hasselhoof
2. Ruling Dynasty
3. Moral Victory
4. Snippets Land
Suggestion
I’ll be backing Hasselhoof straight out at $2.75 or better and having a small each way interest on Ruling Dynasty. Trifectas and first fours look a very difficult proposition.
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