Regally bred colt Lydiard Park will have conditions more in his favour on Wednesday to add performance to his pedigree.
The son of Wootton Bassett will make his second appearance when he steps out in the TCL Earthworks Maiden (1500m) on the synthetic track at Cambridge.
Trained by Roger James and Robert Wellwood, the three-year-old finished fifth on debut earlier this month at Ruakaka where he raced greenly and was unsuited by the rain-affected going.
Lydiard Park is the $3.30 favourite with horse racing betting sites to win the 1500m maiden, with Trouvaille, Altiplano and Cheerful Smile on next line at $6.50.
“We chanced our arm going there off the one soft trial and it didn’t all go his way, we thought it was a pass mark and certainly hoping to see a bit more on Wednesday,” Wellwood said.
Lydiard Park was a $200,000 purchase at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale where he was offered through Woburn Farm’s draft.
He is out of the Northern Meteor mare Ciarlet, a sister to multiple Group One winner and influential sire Zoustar.
“He’s a very nice colt and a horse that needs a good track. We had options for him next week but the way the weather is we’ll go to the synthetic where we know we’ll get a good surface,” Wellwood said.
“Hopefully, that gets him back on track to look at some nice three-year-old races, but he has to step up and we’re looking forward to it.”
Stablemate Russian Blues will run in the Cambridge Equine Hospital Maiden (970m) off the back of consecutive fourths at her first two outings.
“She had a long time off after she got injured at two, she had trialled up very well,” Wellwood said.
“She’s a big, robust filly and the fitness is there now, and she should go a bold race.”
Meanwhile, the stable is happy with the progress of Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) hope Mark Twain after two outings in Australia at distances well below his best.
“We were happy with his run against Via Sistina and company (Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes, 1600m) and at Caulfield (Group 3 Naturalism Stakes, 2000m),” Wellwood said.
“He raced a bit more dourly and like a horse that needs a mile and a-half, which he’ll get next start in The Bart Cummings (Group 3, 2500m) on October 4.”
Closer to home this week, the stable has accepted with two runners at Otaki on Friday with Spellbound in the Vets On Riverbank 2YO (800m) and Popsicles in the Aquashield Roofing Maiden (1600m), but their involvement will depend on track conditions.
“We’ll try and leave it to the last minute to make a call, but the weather doesn’t look good,” Wellwood said.
“He (Spellbound) is a horse that has showed a lot at the trials at Ellerslie and Popsicles handles a wet track to some degree, she raced on a very heavy track at Matamata last start and certainly wanted it better than that.”