The group 1 pairing of La Diosa and jockey Racha Cuneen are back at Riccarton tomorrow, a year after they took their first step towards feature-race glory last season.
La Diosa and Cuneen’s stars rose with victory in the Canterbury Belle Stakes last September. Their subsequent win in the New Zealand 1000 Guineas in November propelled both Cuneen and the Mandy and Matt Brown-trained filly to Australia - albeit on different paths.
La Diosa won the group 2 Surround Stakes at Randwick before the heaviest of Sydney tracks plagued the rest of her autumn campaign.
Cuneen went on to notch another group 1 win, on Signify in the Telegraph at Trentham, before leaving Canterbury to try his luck on the Gold Coast, where he continues to be based.
La Diosa is set to resume as a 4yr-old in the open handicap sprint, race 9, tomorrow, though this time she will have last season’s champion jockey, Chris Johnson aboard.
But the biggest question is whether she will line up.
"She’s very well and we’re happy, but the big query is whether we start if it’s heavy," Mandy Brown said.
"We’d prefer the track to come back a bit for her. There are other options and we’re in no hurry."
Cuneen will fly to Christchurch for what is expected to be one of several trips back this spring.
He will ride one of La Diosa’s race rivals, Batman, for Riccarton trainer Neill Ridley.
And he has the chance to start on the same group 1 path as last year when he rides Greenpark Gem, also trained by the Browns, in the 1200m Canterbury Belle Stakes for 3yr-olds, race 9.
The filly is also being aimed at the 1000 Guineas (1600m).
"You only get one chance at the Guineas and it’s on our doorstep, so we’re hopeful she can make it," Brown said.
"She’s always showed us a lot of ability, but she still has a way to go regarding her racing manners."
Standing in Greenpark Gem’s way is the return of the John and Karen Parsons-trained Kiwi Ida, who opened a $2.60 fixed-odds favourite.
Wingatui mare Princess Brook is in a similar position to La Diosa in that she would prefer dry going, but she is likely to start regardless of how the track is rated. On form, the Terry Kennedy-trained galloper looks a mighty chance in race 10, the New Zealand Cup Trial (1800m).
Kennedy has some trepidation about the going.
"She is improving all of the time. I am just a bit worried about a heavy track. She goes her best races on a dead track," he said.
An ultra-wet Wingatui racecourse has prevented many trainers from getting their horses as ready as they would like heading into spring, but Princess Brook ran a good second behind Night Nurse over 1600m at Riccarton on September 9.
Night Nurse heads up early betting for the race at $4, but the Michael and Matthew Pitman-trained runner also has a patchy record on heavy tracks.
The Pitman stable has 12 runners entered for the meeting including classy performers Son Of Maher and Sensei.
— Jonny Turner, additional reporting NZ Racing Desk
