Golden King primed for Te Rapa sprint

Press, 10 February 1988, Page 47

Golden King primed for Te Rapa sprint

PA Wellington The crack galloper, Golden King, has had a change of plans and will now contest the $120,000 Lion Brown Sprint (1400 m at Te Rapa next Tuesday. The brilliant three-year-old was to have contested the $lOO,OOO Cambridge Stud International (2000 m on the same programme but his trainers, Garth and Craig Ivil, have decided to delay his step up to a middle distance. Originally the stable was to have been represented by Arctic Wolf in the Lion Brown Sprint and Garth Ivil was keen for the talented pair not to clash.

However, Arctic Wolf has not done as well as expected after winning first up at Ellerslie last Monday and has not been nominated for the Lion Brown. “He has taken a little while to get over that run and lightened up a bit afterwards,” Ivil said. He favours the 1400 metre event for Golden King at this stage but still intends stepping him up to 2000 metres in the $200,000 Air New Zealand

Stakes at Ellerslie on February 27. The Lion Brown promises to be a great contest with a rematch between Golden King and Courier Bay. The pair clashed in the Jarden Mile at Trentham on January 30 with Golden King stretching his winning sequence to six with a polished display while Courier Bay came home fourth. But the 1400 metre journey at Te Rapa will suit Courier Bay better.

Others nominated for the weight-for-age contest include Alynda, Field Dancer, Impasada, Ma Chiquita, Sirstaci, Steely Dan, The Filbert and Tri Belle. The Air New Zealand will probably be Golden King’s last race before departing for Melbourne where he will contest the sAustsoo,ooo Alister Clark Stakes (2040 m at Monnee Valley on March 19. If all goes to plan, that race could feature the first clash between Golden King and the spring three-year-old star Poetic Prince. Ivil is not certain of future plans for Artic Wolf but there is a good

chance he will accompany Golden King to Melbourne. It will all depend on how he progresses but Ivil has paid a late entry fee of sAustsoo for the sAust4ol,ooo Newmarket Handicap (1200 m at Flemington on March 12. Rifleman, another top performer in the stable, is being aimed towards an open class debut in the $50,000 Rolls Royce Plate (1400 m at Ellerslie on February 27. Rifleman, which suffered his second New Zealand defeat when the second to Squire Gray at Avondale last week, is expected to have one more run before the trip to Auckland. That is likely to be in a class 21400 m event at Woodville on February 20. Phillip Mercer, who has been associated with the stable horses in recent weeks, will again partner Golden King at Te Rapa next week but it has not yet been decided whether he will accompany the team to Melbourne.

Ivil said it was possible Mercer could be required to ride stable runners at home