Trainer expecting nothing but the best

Shaune Ritchie will be disappointed if Snow Secret doesn’t go close to winning Saturday’s Listed Wanganui Cup (2040m).

While he has bigger summer targets in mind for the mare, claiming top honours in the Cambridge Thoroughbred Lodge-sponsored feature is his immediate priority.

“It looks her race, she’s been competitive in better fields than this,” he said.

“It’s a lead-up to the Waikato Cup, but we’ll be trying to win this one first, that’s for sure. She’s been Group Three placed and a multiple stakes placegetter and we want that elusive stakes win for her.”

Snow Secret is in good touch with recent Listed placings in the Jakkalberry Classic (1950m) and the Feilding Gold Cup (2100m) to her credit.

“She beat Maygrove home at Rotorua and then she ran third to him at Awapuni and he’s come out and won the Counties Cup,” Ritchie said.

“As she’s got older we feel she’s better on left-handed tracks and it took Lizzie L’Amour to beat her in the Waikato Cup last year, so again the form’s good.”

Snow Secret has twice tackled the Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m) and the Trentham feature in January is again on her post-Christmas programme.

The daughter of Sakhee’s Secret finished fourth in the 2016 edition won by Mister Impatience and last season she was an unlucky seventh behind Savaria when denied clear room in the straight.

Snow Secret will be ridden at Wanganui by apprentice Brendan Hutton, who has ridden the six-year-old in one of her previous five wins.