Whetu expected to star at Eagle Farm today

Press, 21 November 1987, Page 33

Whetu expected to star at Eagle Farm today

NZPA-AAP Brisbane The New Zealand trainer, Clarrie Archer, and his fellow countryman, the jockey, Paul Fitzgerald, are confident Whetu will be the star of the show in the $75,000 Coca-Cola Queensland Cup (3200 m at Eagle Farm today. Whetu, Maori for star, will have his final Australia run in the Queensland Cup before heading home to tackle the $500,000 Auckland Cup (3200) at Ellerslie on January 1. Fitzgerald, who has a

perfect record from only two rides in Australia, both on Whetu, has no doubts Whetu will cope with the 3200 m journey better than his Sydney rival, Our Jug.

Archer knows there will be no fitter horse in the Cup field than Whetu.

“His win last week really topped him off and I doubt if I could get him any fitter,” Archer said.

Whetu is booked on a flight from Brisbane on December 8 and will have only one run, in the Queensland Elizabeth Handicap (2400 m at Ellerslie on December 28,

before the Auckland Cup. Although the quality of the Cup field may be weak, the New Zealanders refuse to take their opposition lightly.

“I don’t know too much about Our Jug, although I remember him racing back home,” Archer said. Our Jug, which will be ridden by the in-form Sydney jockey, Jim Cassidy, had six starts in New Zealand before transferring last autumn to the Brian Mayfield-Smith stable in Sydney. Archer believes May-field-Smith may be gambling with Our Jug getting

the distance. “It is a good gamble by Mayfield-Smith as the opposition isn’t that strong,” he said. “But I am not certain whether he has the breeding to run two miles.” Archer has a healthy regard for Sir Zamazaan, which could provide New Zealand-bred horses with a trifecta result.

Jockey, Beaver Schofield, will be a new rider for Sir Zamazaan, which turned in a good Cup trial finishing a strong fourth to Whetu in the Frazer Handicap (2400 m at Eagle Farm last week.