Origin Of Love post race
- After a week of met service warnings and a Civil Defence emergency the fourth day of the Spring Racing Season was held under hot and windy conditions.
- Going was ideal being a Good 4 after the new irrigation system showed the benefits of watering from both the outside and inside when the wind abated somewhat on Thursday evening.
- The day provided races which served as dress rehearsals for the up coming New Zealand Cup Meeting.
- Te Akau filly ORIGIN OF LOVE upstaged the colts and gelding to win the days feature the $100,000 Group 3 War Decree Stakes. Local gelding PROFESSIONAL LAD was only a nose away in second with the favourite and fellow Te Akau trained WAR OF SILENCE a ½ neck away in third. Joe Doyle partnered the filly with stable rider Opie Bosson aboard WAR OF SILENCE.
- Terri Rae gained revenge for PROFESSIONAL LAD’s defeat in the other feature the $80,000 Listed Sothys Spring Classic when SIR ALBERT ran out a two-length winner over Te Akau’s representative COGNITO with local fan favourite and topweight MATSCOT a gallant third. SIR ALBERT now sits as $5 third favourite in the TAB Mile Trial.
- Rae had produced sprinter SPOT ON TIME to win the previous race the TAB Mile Trial who moved into $21 and seventh favouritism for the big mile on the middle day of the NZ Cup Meeting.
- The Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson partnership prepared five of the 11 winners on the programme with Opie Bosson partnering four of them.
- One of them I’M A DIRTY RASCAL was a game winner of the 3000 metres NZB Airfreight Road To Jericho and has since shortened to be $6 favourite for the Martin Collins New Zealand Cup.