Innes back on Kawi; Ellerslie target for Scrutinize; Smart 3YO with Waller; Danroad sold to China

Innes back on Kawi

Leith Innes will be back on Kawi for the Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham on December 5.

Innes had his first ride on Kawi when the New Plymouth galloper won the Gr.1 Makfi Challenge Stakes at Hastings in August.

Stable apprentice Dylan Mo had the mount when Kawi won the Redcraze Bowl at Awapuni at his next start and Innes was riding at Riccarton when the five-year-old finished a luckless second for Reese Jones in the Gr.3 Tauranga Stakes.

Opie Bosson will have the Captain Cook mount on Shuka, who will be seeking a hat-trick of wins in the weight-for-age 1600m feature.

Ellerslie target for Scrutinize

Hawke’s Bay Guineas runner-up Scrutinize is back in work after a break.

Plans for a trip to Christchurch for the three-year-old were scrapped after he ran seventh following an interrupted run in last month’s Gr.2 Sarten Memorial.

“We had bloods taken and the results said he’d had enough,” co-trainer Jamie Richards said.

“He’s 100 percent now and his first serious aim is likely to be the Great Northern Guineas at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day.”

Smart 3YO with Waller

Sacred Surfer is a recent addition to the powerful Chris Waller stable.

The three-year-old won two trials and was a debut winner at Te Aroha last month for Cambridge trainer Tony Pike before the Raffles Farm-owned gelding was transferred to Sydney.

Sacred Surfer is nominated for a 1200 metre sprint at Rosehill on Saturday.

Danroad sold to China

Group One producer Danroad has been sold to the Inner Mongolia Rider Horse Group.

“He has been a great source of winners,” Highview Stud’s Brent Gillovic said. “He has been getting virtually zero patronage over the last three seasons so at least he'll serve some mares up there."

Danroad’s best performer has been the Gr.1 TJ Smith Classic winner Rockdale while his son Down The Road was a Gr.2 Championship Stakes winner and ran second in the Gr.1 NZ Derby.

“In the mid-eighties these types of stallions would have covered good books of mares. Often his type would be the first horse with a full book with mares coming from people who bred to race. Sadly that is but a distant memory now,” Gillovic said.