Saturday saw the penultimate Grand Tour raceday as the 3YO’s took centre stage at Trentham Racecourse with the running of the Group 1 Gee & Hickton Funeral Directors Levin Classic and the Group 1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand Oaks.
The top of the Jockey's leaderboard remained unchanged as Opie Bosson had a rare winless Saturday and Warren Kennedy served a suspension, so neither could improve their totals. However, the next 4 riders on the leaderboard had a day out with Michael McNab (HE’S BESET), Craig Grylls (TOWN CRYER) and Ryan Elliot (PENNYWEKA) all scoring one win and Kozzi Asano (ROMANCING THE MOON & MANIFIQUE) bagging a double. It looks like it will take a mammoth effort on The Grand Tour final raceday from the chasing bunch to peg back Opie Bosson.
The battle for the Apprentice Jockey's leaderboard is going down to the wire with long-time leader Wiremu Pinn scoring a win on Saturday aboard SAKO to move back to first equal with Tayla Mitchell who was serving a suspension on Saturday, so was unable to add to her tally. It looks unlikely that we will be able to crown a solo winner from here as both Wiremu Pinn and Tayla Mitchell will not be riding at The Grand Tour finale on 1 April due to suspensions, and the nearest rival Niranjan Parmar also on the sidelines for the Group 1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes raceday at Awapuni.
Mark Walker was able to add another winner to his lead as ROMANCING THE MOON took out the Group 1 Levin Classic. While Stephen Marsh (SAKO) moved in to 3rd position with his solo winner and Tony Pike added one more to his tally with HE’S BESET. However, the big movers were Darryn & Briar Weatherley who snared a stakes-winning double thanks to ESS VEE ARE and MARIA FARINA putting them 5th equal.
It is now clear that we will not be able to separate the two horses at the top of the Horse Points leaderboard as PROWESS & IMPERATRIZ sit equal on 5 points and both are set to continue their preps in Australia. Behind them are TOKYO TYCOON, SHARP ‘N’ SMART on 4 points and then DEFIBRILLATE, HE'S A DOOZY, ESS VEE ARE, LEGARTO, PENNYWEKA and MUSTANG VALLEY on 3 points. All of which are either spelling, in Australia or too many points behind to be able to peg back the leaders with one raceday to go.
The Trainer's Strike Rate leaderboard will come down to the last day however. As Ken & Bev Kelso sit on top with a strike rate of 4.00, equal to Shane Kennedy & Anna Furlong. While Lance Noble is hot on their heels with a strike rate of just 4.13 followed by Allan Sharrock on 5.00. Peter Didham was the key mover on Saturday, thanks to the win of MANIFIQUE his strike rate is now just 6.00 with it all still to play for.
| Jockey - Most Wins | Wins | |||
| 1 | Opie Bosson | 21 | ||
| 2 | Warren Kennedy | 17 | ||
| 3= | Michael McNab | 16 | ||
| 3= | Craig Grylls | 16 | ||
| 5= | Ryan Elliot | 9 | ||
| 5= | Kozzi Asano | 9 | ||
| Apprentice Jockey - Most Wins | Wins | |||
| 1= | Tayla Mitchell | 6 | ||
| 1= | Wiremu Pinn | 6 | ||
| 3 | Niranjan Parmar | 3 | ||
| 4= | Tegan Abel | 2 | ||
| 4= | Ace Lawson-Carroll | 2 | ||
| 4= | Kelsey Hannan | 2 | ||
| 4= | Bailey Rogerson | 2 | ||
| 4= | Lily Sutherland | 2 | ||
| Trainer - Most Wins | Wins | |||
| 1 | Mark Walker | 27 | ||
| 2 | Lisa Latta | 10 | ||
| 3 | Stephen Marsh | 9 | ||
| 4 | Lance Noble | 8 | ||
| 5= | Tony Pike | 6 | ||
| 5= | Darryn & Briar Weatherley | 6 | ||
| 7= | Roger James & Robert Wellwood | 5 | ||
| 7= | Andrew Forsman | 5 | ||
| 7= | Allan Sharrock | 5 | ||
| 9= | Shane Kennedy & Anna Furlong | 4 | ||
| 9= | Team Rogerson | 4 | ||
| Trainer - Strike Rate* | Strike Rate | Starters | ||
| 1= | Ken & Bev Kelso | 4.00 | 12 | |
| 1= | Shane Kennedy & Anna Furlong | 4.00 | 16 | |
| 3 | Lance Noble | 4.13 | 33 | |
| 4 | Allan Sharrock | 5.00 | 25 | |
| 5 | Peter Didham | 6.00 | 12 | |
| 6 | Roydon Bergerson | 6.34 | 19 | |
| 7 | Darryn & Briar Weatherley | 7.34 | 44 | |
| 8 | Michael Rogers | 7.50 | 15 | |
| 9 | Lisa Latta | 8.50 | 85 | |
| 10 | Mark Walker | 8.96 | 242 | |
| * Trainer required to have 10+ starters to qualify | ||||
| Horse - Points** | Wins | Grp1 | Points | |
| 1= | Prowess | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 1= | Imperatriz | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 3= | Tokyo Tycoon | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 3= | Sharp 'N' Smart | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 5= | Defibrillate | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 5= | Ess Vee Are | 3 | 3 | |
| 5= | Legarto | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 5= | Mustang Valley | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 5= | He's A Doozy | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 5= | Pennyweka | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 7= | Aquacade | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Campionessa | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Dark Destroyer | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7= | Green Aeon | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Habana | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | It's Business Time | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Ladies Man | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Laneway Flirting | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Levante | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7= | Lilhoovesgotmoves | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Mercurial | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Not Guilty | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Oso Savvy | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Pearl Of Alsace | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Pier | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7= | Prise De Fer | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7= | Romancing The Moon | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7= | Savonoski | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Trobriand | 2 | 2 | |
| 7= | Wild Night | 2 | 2 | |
| * 1 point for win and additional 1 point for a Group 1 win | ||||