Godolphin will have two runners in the 2015 Tulloch Stakes at Rosehill Gardens tomorrow and trainer John O’Shea believes that Hauraki is his leading chance in the Group 2 event.
James McDonald has been booked to ride Hauraki in the 2015 Tulloch Stakes at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Hauraki started his 2014 Melbourne Festival Of Racing campaign with poor performances in the William Hill Plate (1300m) at Sandown on February 7 and the Group 3 CS Hayes Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on February 21, but he returned to a semblance of his best form with a second place finish behind Winx in the Group 2 Phar Lap Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 14.
O’Shea was delighted with the effort of Hauraki in the Tulloch Stakes and he believes that the Reset colt is well-placed to record a maiden win at Group level in the Tulloch Stakes this weekend.
“Hauraki is probably the pick and the market says that,” O’Shea told Racing Ahead.
“Melbourne never agreed with him, but he is a horse that we think quiet highly of and we just needed to see if he could get himself back into the game, which he did in the Phar Lap.
“The 2000 will suit him better and he looks to get a nice run in the race.”
Gouldian also returned to racing in the William Hill Plate at Sandown on February 7, but he produced a much improved effort to finish second in a benchmark 70 event at Moonee Valley on February 27 and was arguably unlucky not to win the race.
The Street Cry colt is on a path towards the Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) at Royal Randwick on April 4 and O’Shea expects the three-year-old to produce a far better performance than his current Tulloch Stakes odds suggest.
“Gouldian has thrived since he has been back in Sydney and getting up to his preferred distance range.
“I thought he was probably a touch over the odds in the market there at the moment and his couple of runs in Melbourne were ok and he was probably a bit unlucky not to win at the Valley when he got beaten.
“We are very happy with both horses.”
Hauraki is currently available at 2015 Tulloch Stakes odds of $5 and is a narrow favourite with Ladbrokes from Omeros ($5.50), Caped Crusader ($6.50), Diamond Valores ($7), Ruling Dynasty ($7.50), Merion ($7.50), Gouldian ($17) and Quick Strike ($17).
