All going well Millwood Nike will return to the scene of her great triumph at the New Zealand Cup meeting in the Nevele R Final last November, this time with the NZ Free for All in mind.
“It is the race we would target if she keeps on the path of progress and there are no problems so far” Mark said this week.
“It will depend how things go of course but the one to aim at at this stage”
Mark,who usually works his small team at Matamata, took Oscar Bonavena and Millwood Nike to Morrinsville on Tuesday even though he missed the trials of the galloping team, now managed by Glenn Old,in their runs at the Cambridge trials,the harness team taking priority
“I will be having a talk to Glenn about where we go with the gallopers from here. Buster Shaw has been doing well up here”
The other galloper raced in the south,Captain Roy, was a good third in his heat
Millwood Niki is likely to trial next month and leadup races are far from set in stone.They might possibly include a tilt at a Purdon stable favourite,the Kaikoura Cup which the stable has won 12 times and Imagine That also won when in the care of Grant Payne at Rolleston. Akuta restored the recent stable record last year. Oscar Bonavena is likely to head south through that route so logical Millwood Nike and probably Don’t Stop Dreaming will be with him.
Millwood Nike has not raced since last December soon after her memorable Nevele R performance in 2.20 for 1980 on New Zealand Cup day that had those with even the longest memories reaching for superlatives. A tendon problem surfaced soon after the 17th win in early December.
“Fortunately it was picked up early, she had the best treatment straight away and has turned out much better than it was feared for a while”
The mare won all of her 17 starts in age group racing and while preserving that record is unlikely to be the highest priority in a new campaign.The Free for All, usually passed in modern times by Australian visitors and increasingly a tougher ask for local horses having hard 3200m races a few days before,seems an ideal time and place for the budding champion to reappear on the big stage at Addington.
Most harness fans can hardly wait