Pukekohe co-trainer Dean Wiles always hoped Mai Guru would turn out to be a shrewd $60,000 buy for his new Singapore owners at the last Ready to Run Sale.
But the chance to recoup almost 10 times that investment in a little over two months has exceeded even Wiles' ambitious expectations.
That's the scenario now ahead for the Ishiguru gelding who burst into calculations for New Zealand's richest race, the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Million at Ellerslie on January 29, with a resounding win at Woodville on Saturday. The $6250 purse elevates him to 10th in entry order for the 14 horse field to contest New Zealand Bloodstock's incentive race for graduates of its National Yearling Sales Series.
Mai Guru was originally bought by Byerley Park trainer Ben Foote for $47,500 as a yearling at the Select Sale before reappearing in the Ready To Run two-year-old catalogue on November 15.
Wiles, who trains in partnership with Kevin Hughes, selected the Jim Campin-bred Mai Guru for husband and wife clients of Singapore trainer David Kok. Wiles has had a fruitful trading association with Kok for the last few years – Smart General and Wonder General are two recent success stories – and Mai Guru is heading to his Singapore stable shortly too.
But Wiles admits the chance to race for the $550,500 first prize in the Karaka Million is a bonus neither had in mind when bidding at Karaka last November.
“We didn't actually think of the Karaka Million until we went back through the horses we'd bought and realised he was an entry still,” says Wiles. “I told him [David] it's a short time preparation so I wasn't going to overtax the horse to get there if he wasn't going to take it. But he seems a very tough horse and he's taken everything I've given to him so far and is only getting better.”
Wiles had hoped to qualify Mai Guru, who is aiming to become the first Ready to Run graduate to race in the Karaka Million, by winning the Simply Squeezed Two-Year-Old dash at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. But Mai Guru had to settle for second that day, beaten just a long head by likely Karaka Million rival Freedom, after ducking out sharply near the line.
“He beat himself at Ellerslie when he veered out a bit in the last 200m and we were initially disappointed we didn't get the winning stake money,” says Wiles. “But in hindsight, the extra run at Woodville is probably now a good thing. Because of his greenness, the experience has done him a world of good.”
Mai Guru cornered like a seasoned pro on Saturday and won untested for rider Hayden Tinsley in a race that's already a proven Karaka Million lead-up.
Wiles hopes he doesn't need to give Mai Guru another run now before January 29, but is keeping a close eye on the few remaining qualifying events all the same.
“He's still not guaranteed a run so a lot depends on Saturday's 'Countdown to Karaka Million' two-year-old race at Ellerslie and how that impacts on the entry order,” said Wiles. “But racing has settled him right down now and I'd be happy to go into the [Karaka Million] race without another run.”
