This week is the calm after the storm for Greg Sugars.
A manic two days of Group 1 racing at Addington’s iconic New Zealand Cup last week netted Sugars and his wife, Jess Tubbs, a win and two seconds.
But it also presented them with a headache – to leave their stable stars in NZ, or bring them home for the NSW Inter Dominion series, which starts on Friday week at Newcastle?
“We changed our minds a few times,” Sugars said. “It’s one of the more difficult decisions we’ve had to make because it involves a few horses.
“There really was no right answer, just the one we felt was the best of the two options and we landed on leaving the horses in NZ.
“In the case of Just Believe specifically, staying in NZ is best for him. While it would’ve been great to try and become the first three-time Inter Dominion trotting winner, there are more suitable races and prize money for him over there.
“Better Eclipse made it tricky. He would be really well suited in the Inter Dominion, as he showed last year (second to Leap To Fame in the final), but there are also some nice races for him in NZ over the next couple of months.
“He showed, especially with the second to Merlin in the (Group 1) NZ free-for-all last Friday, that he’s right up there with the best Kiwi horses and he won an Auckland Cup there earlier this year.”
So, Sugars spend a lot of time travelling between Melbourne, Christchurch and Auckland in coming months.
“There are staying in Christchurch for a few weeks. Hes From Heaven has the (NZ) Derby down there, but Just Believe and Better Eclipse probably won’t race again until December 13 up in Auckland,” he said.
But for now, he’s back home to drive the stable runners at a strong Melton meeting on Saturday night.
Leading the way is classy former Kiwi mare Rakero Rebel, who almost joined stablemates Just Believe, Better Eclipse, One Over All and Hes From Heaven as the stable’s Kiwi raiders.
Just four starts back, Rakero Rebel won Victoria’s biggest mares’ race, the Group 1 Queen of the Pacific at Melton. She ran second in the same race behind retired champ Ladies In Red a year earlier.
The five-year-old has been winless in three starts since, but barrier draws have been against her.
Rakero Rebel ran a close-up fourth against the boys in Caduceus Classic last Saturday night and gets back against her sex as the lone back row runner (gate eight) for this week’s Renown Silverware Mares’ free-for-all (1720m).
“There’s a couple of nice ones off the front (row), so hopefully they’ll go hard. If she hits the line like she has at her past couple, she’ll be right in the finish,” Sugars said.
His other key drive comes on last season’s Group 1 Victoria Oaks winner, Shes Ruby Roo, in the APG Trotting Mares’ free-for-all.
“She’s still building. She’ll be fitter for last week, but she will need another run or two to be right up her top and where she needs to be against good mares like this,” Sugars said.
PHOTOD:
Just Believe x 2 – Courtesy of HRNZ
Rakero Rebel – Stuart McCormick
