Handy mare Shared Secrets provided another glimpse of her potential as a top-flight stayer when she trounced her rivals in the last race at Awapuni on Saturday.
Trainer Mark Oulaghan has adopted a patient approach with the Nadeem four-year-old and it looks likely to reap significant rewards over the summer based on her performance on the weekend. Handled perfectly by rider Masa Tanaka, Shared Secrets dominated proceedings in the closing stages of the Hirepool Ltd Premier (2100m) as she stormed clear to score by two and a half lengths.
“We think she could turn into a very good stayer in time and I was expecting a good run from her on the weekend,” he said.
“She had been coming to hand nicely and getting fitter all the time. I did think if she could get some luck in the run she would be hard to beat on her best form as she was getting out to a distance that suits.”Oulaghan was quick to praise the effort of Tanaka who had the mare positioned nicely throughout the contest.
“Masa rode her well as he had her within striking distance all the way and got her moving at just the right time,” he said.“If there’s no real pace on it can be hard to come from too far back on this track these days but when I saw her right there on the home bend I was confident she could let down with a good finish.”
Oulaghan will now look to piece together a summer programme for the mare although he is in no rush to tackle some of the better staying events just yet.“She pulled up well but at this stage I haven’t really got too much planned for her,” he said.
“The Summer Cup on the last day at Trentham (27 January) is an option I’ve considered but we’re not really looking any further ahead than that. She’s pretty clean winded so she could go into the race without another run, but we’ll make that decision once we’ve seen how she is over the next few days.”
