Roydon Bergerson only has one preference for all five of his competitive chances on Saturday at Wanganui, a rain-affected track.
That was the reality earlier in the week with the abandonment of Tauranga on Wednesday, and while he wouldn’t be wanting it to get to that extent, his top galloper Bradman would appreciate a Heavy surface as he tackles the Listed AGC Training Stakes (1600m).
The runner-up in last year’s edition, Bradman is a model of consistency and always a big player in the feature contests, as displayed last start when he was a close-up fourth in the Listed Rangitikei Cup (1600m).
“It was a good, honest run from him in the Cup, it’s just a shame it didn’t rain more,” Bergerson said. “He would’ve been a bit harder to beat, but he tried hard and was only beaten three quarters of a length.
“I think he’s improved, he needed to but I’m just praying for a bit more rain.”
Speedster Farravallo will make his resumption in the Dawn Eales-Baldwin Memorial OPN 1200 after a very impressive trial performance on Tuesday at Foxton.
The four-year-old has been off the scene for over seven months, and despite already having a quartet of victories to his name, Bergerson is seeing a much-improved version of Farravallo this preparation.
“He’s going super this time in, he’s a different horse,” he said. “He’s more relaxed, he was a bit of handful when we first got him but he’s settled down a lot and he’s more controllable.
“He pulled up a little bit lame after his last start, so we’ve given him a good spell, he’s done a lot of pre-training down on Chris’ (Rutten, part-owner) farm so he’d done a lot of work before he came to me. He’s only been here for the last two months, he’s had a couple of jump-outs and a good trial.
“He’s a lot stronger than he was last year which is a big help, he looks great in the coat and he’s ready to rock and roll on Saturday.
“It’s a tidy little field, but he’s pretty well.”
The gelding will be partnered by Kavish Chowdhoory in the open sprint, while apprentice Jim Chung will claim two kilograms off stablemate Reign It In, who has a long-term goal in mind through the winter.
“I think there is going to be a lot of pace on which could set it up for one of the backmarkers, so hopefully it’s him,” Bergerson said. “He’s come up well this year, I’m trying to get him to the Winter Cup (Gr.3, 1600m).
“He likes 1200 and likes a heavy track, so send down the rain.”
Ardrossan filly Fleeting Glimpse pleased the Awapuni horseman on debut behind a storming Tycoon Boss, and she’ll be aiming to go one better in the Sound Electrical MDN 1340.
“We like her, she’s not an overly big filly but she’s a nice looking type,” he said.
“We gave her a chance (on debut), I didn’t think she could beat the winner but he looks like quite a nice horse going forward and she’s done well to hang in there for second.
“Hopefully the rain keeps coming, Bradman and her probably have the draws to get to the outside first and that’s a big plus at Wanganui.”
Bergerson hopes to also have Charlotte’s Way on the truck to the River City, but that will depend on a suitable jockey to ride her in the Dave Hoskin Carriers 1340.
At times an enigma, the daughter of Pentire put her best foot forward when second to Mafia Mamma at Trentham back in March, with the long time in between runs suited to her.
“If there is a scratching with a good jockey on, I’ll start her, but if not, she’ll wait and go to the poly meeting next week,” Bergerson said.
“She’s going well, but we’ve just got to keep her fresh. She’s a funny little horse, we do a lot of different things with her and change training styles to keep her interested. She seems good and worked very well on Tuesday morning, as good as anything over at the track here. “She’s on song, but we’ll see what happens on Saturday.”