Katrina and Simon Alexander have handled their Show By SkyCity (1400m) contender Aksil with patience and hope to reap the rewards of that later in the season.
The Te Awamutu-based trainers purchased Aksil as a yearling and the son of Ace High showed an abundance of promise through the trials stage, eye-catching in all four efforts before stepping out on debut at Taupo in mid-October.
A consummate professional, Aksil travelled well, balanced up in the straight and powered through the line to win over 1300m, a perfect first step in what the Alexanders hope to be a fruitful second half of the season.
“As a yearling and all the way through his education, he’s always impressed us,” Katrina Alexander said. “He’s had a lovely, trainable nature and been a hugely athletic horse.
“The way he put it all together at Taupo was a very good effort, it can be a tricky track for a green horse to get right and he got himself organised quite nicely around the home turn, sustained a bump and got himself out of trouble to let down beautifully.
“We’ve never seen him as a 2000 Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m) horse or anything like that, he has grown a huge amount. He was quite Savabeel-looking when we first got him and now we’re seeing the Ace High coming through with a big frame to fill out, he’s got a lovely cross through both sire lines.
“We’ve been determined to be patient, we see him as an after-Christmas horse and that second half of the season.”
Aksil caught plenty of attention with his debut and has opened favourite for the open three-year-old event at Ellerslie’s Melbourne Cup Day meeting on Tuesday ahead of 2000 Guineas hope Affirmative Action.
“It makes it quite interesting tomorrow with some of those three-year-olds not going around in the Sarten, there are a horses with much bigger agendas and more pressure on them than we’re wanting to put on our horse,” Alexander said.
“He’s shown that he enjoys Ellerslie and I feel it’s the surface that he needs, so we’re looking for a good, educational run and to get a line on him, especially with which distance would suit going forward.
“Masa (Hashizume) is riding in Australia so it’ll be a learning curve for Joe (Doyle) riding him for the first time, it’ll be good to get another jockey’s opinion on him as well.”
His stablemate, Haunui Farm-owned mare Acapelago will step out later in the Stella Artois 1400, having impressed in her first-up run at the venue in September.
“It was a super run and she’s run very well on a couple of occasions at Ellerslie in a fresh state, albeit with wide draws where she’s had to settle back and boom home,” Alexander said.
“We’ve had to put the brakes on when the weather wasn’t great, as well as a little niggle that we had to take a sit with. She’s presenting there again in a slightly fresher state, I’ve tried to present her that way so that she can run a fairly sharp 1400m.
“It’s a tidy field, so I’m looking for an honest run that we can build on as we get back up in distance. I’m keen to see her at a mile and maybe a little further, after talking with Mark Chitty (owner) and what he feels the female side of that family can do.
“She seems to love Ellerslie, even as a Belardo, she prefers that even surface to show her best. She’s shown she can do it from the front or back, so that makes it easier for Joe (Doyle) to sit wherever he chooses too.”
Back in the stable, glamour girl La Crique has returned from her short break in the paddock as she readies for a summer racing at the elite level.
The star Vadamos mare finished runner-up in each of the Gr.1 Proisir Plate (1400m) and Gr.1 Howden Insurance Mile (1600m), but didn’t take her place in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m).
“We put her out in the paddock and missed the last leg of that series, and with the weather that was served up to us, I’m pleased we made that decision very early,” Alexander said. “I really doubt I would’ve been able to prepare her with the rain we had around, just to get that fast work in.
“I think we pulled the right rein, she’s had a lovely break and is now in her second week back in the stable, she’s a box of birds and really quite boisterous and boulshy. She looks great, she’s well in herself so we are heading towards Trentham at the start of December.
“She’ll likely go to the trials prior to that, then we’ll go straight into the mile.”
That race will be the Gr.1 TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m) on the 6th of December, which she finished second in last year behind Ladies Man.