David and Emma Haworth are following a tried and true path with their quality mare Waikaha, who will begin her spring campaign at Hastings on Saturday.
The father and daughter training combination produced the stakes performer for a first-up success at last year’s Hawke’s Bay carnival and are hopeful of a similar result in the Stella Artois 1400.
Waikaha hasn’t started since she struck a heavy track when seventh in the Listed Anzac 1600 at Awapuni in April and she placed in a recent open trial at Foxton behind Nashville and Mighty Solomon to prepare her for a return to racing.
“After Saturday, she will probably go to Awapuni for the Gr.3 Merial Metric Mile on the 12th of September, but only if the track conditions will suit her, and then there’s a mile for her on the third day at Hastings,” Haworth said.“We’ll get those first three races out of the way before we make definite plans for anything else.”
Waikaha has four stakes placings to her credit, including a fourth in the Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile and the Riccarton feature does again figure on the list of longer-term options.“We would like to take her down there again, but we are mindful that the track can get too hard so we’ve got to look after her,” Haworth said.
“Certainly, if the conditions were going to be to her liking then we would be quite keen.”Waikaha will be ridden for the first time at Hastings on Saturday by apprentice Nivesh Teeluck.
“She got topweight of 59kg so we wanted to get the three kilos off and we’re pretty happy, we think she’ll go well,” Haworth said.
