Wild and wet weather could make the Gore Guineas formbook more handy for lighting the fire than turning up a winner.
The possibility of a rain-sodden, heavy track tomorrow could turn the race into survival of the swimmers.
Only four of the 12 acceptors have run on slow or heavy tracks and they have thrown up mixed results. The John and Karen Parsons-trained Starvoia is one from one on a heavy surface, while Wonder Woman has placed once in four starts on slow and heavy tracks.
Add in the fact some horses are proven past 1300m and some are not and we could be left with a long list of unknowns to wade through by race start time. Riccarton trainer Andrew Carston is in exactly that position with his two runners, What Choux Want and Strowan, in tomorrow’s listed 1335m feature.
"Obviously the track is a concern, but they are all in the same boat."
What Choux Want returned to racing with a dominant win at Waikouaiti on New Year’s Day
"I was very happy with her first run. I think she is going to be suspect at anything further than 1355m but I reckon she will get it around Gore."
Jockey Lee Callaway is booked to ride the group 2 placegetter for the first time.
"He has ridden her in a bit of work so I am more than happy to have him on."
Carston rates Strowan and What Choux Want on a par, despite What Choux Want’s more proven race record.
"I couldn’t split them. [Strowan] is a colt that has come right at the right time and the distance is no concern for him."
Strowan took longer than Carston hoped to win, scoring in a Kurow maiden race in December, but since then he has only improved.
"I am happy with how he has come through Kurow. I think he has come on since them."
Carston was undecided about how his other runners would handle the possibly wet conditions which may lead to the scratching of some of his horses.
The trainer definitely intended to start Pinzano in race 10 after a good run on a heavy Greymouth track.
"That is the reason she will be there. She has come through that trip well.
"She is a hard mare to follow, though," Carston said.
Pinzano is one of 10 runners who come off runs on the January West Coast circuit that produced two rain-soaked surfaces. That form could prove valuable should wet conditions persist at Gore.
Three winners on those very heavy tracks line up tomorrow. They include Overnightsensation in race 4, Point Proven in race 5 and The Gordonian in the Gore Cup, race 7. Spider Lily, Zah Champ and Peter Parker, in race 5, all come off top-four finishes on the West Coast.
Retallick, in race 3, and Mare Mia (race 10) are the other two horses racing tomorrow with place form on the wet West Coast tracks.
Point Proven’s win at Hokitika was a memorable and emotional moment for his connections and tomorrow will be another emotional day for the southern racing fraternity. Point Proven returns to Gore on the first race day since jockey Rebecca Black died after falling from him there in December.
- Jonny Turner
