The Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards-trained pair have been in the South Island for several weeks to build up towards their group 1 1600m test tomorrow.
The flight from Auckland to Christchurch then travels on to Sydney, so if the plane could not land in Christchurch, it would be redirected to Sydney and the three 3yr-olds — and Metropolitan Trophy contender Maygrove — were not certified to land in Sydney. They will instead fly today, but any disruption leading up to a group 1 stallion-making race is not ideal.
Heroic Valour and Hall Of Fame, on the other hand, are very comfortable in the south, as the Te Akau team follows a pattern which has worked in the past with some of their five winners in the 2000 Guineas since 2003.
"They’re both well settled in and they’ve had their final lead-in runs here and we’re really happy with where they’re at," Richards said.
"It’s something that works well for us and we’re quite fortunate that we’ve got really good staff to send down with the horses."
The stable’s top jockey, Matthew Cameron, had the tough call to make between the Te Akau pair, and opted on Wednesday to go with Hall Of Fame. Michael McNab will take the reins on Heroic Valour.
"He chose to ride that one so now he’s got to come up with a plan to win the race," Richards quipped about Cameron’s decision.
"I’d suggest that he’d be going forward a little bit. I think it’s going to be quite a tactical race — there’s quite a bit of speed in there — but I guess it’s just going to depend on the tempo of the race."
The son of Savabeel had two starts in the autumn for a win and a second before enjoying a spell. He returned with a second to Ugo Foscolo at Hastings in August, then an unlucky fourth at Taupo before he came south for two wins at Riccarton.
"I’m not sure what he’s beaten in his last couple of starts but he’s gone very good time and they’re all good confidence-boosting wins," Richards said.
Heroic Valour’s winning streak ended at Hastings early last month before he was downed by the classy La Diosa at Ashburton in mid-October.
"He ran on a wet track at Hastings and then got to the front too soon at Ashburton.
"We’ll just try and ride him a little more conservatively and hope that he can have the last laugh at them."
Imperium is on trial for the New Zealand Cup when he takes his place in the listed Metropolitan Trophy over 2500m.
"He’s always been able to gallop a bit, but he’s a little bit temperamental. When he switches . . . it’s very hard to get him going so we’ve just tried to keep a bit of speed in his legs and not get him too dour. But he’s been working up with Heroic Valour and his work has been good."
