Major Change

Some Change not at Franklin workouts but intended to run at the trials the following Saturday- 13 February.

Major Change looks a strong chance to score some valuable Country Cup points in the $12000 Wairarapa Cup on Sunday. It wouldn't be the first time he followed up a first day second with a win a few days later.

Fingers crossed for tonight- both horses look strong chances with good recent workout and/or race form to boost their prospects.
Can Tony score his first win behind Posie? And Brent will take no prisoners behind Jack I suspect.

A much better run by Major Change. It was a pity that he galloped for a few strides losing 4 lengths soon after the start. That is three second placings recently, all of which looked home but run down late. (Major Star, Bettors Pocket and Major Change) Let us hope for better results tomorrow as both Bettors Pocket and The Faithful look to be great winning chances. I am starting to really like Bettors Pocket based on his last run which was enormous considering that he was first up. Is Some Change still attending the workouts this weekend? If we do get a winner at Alexandra Park ... somebody give a wave to the T.V. camera during the on track gathering as I will be watching you all from W.A.

Good luck to all syndicate members for tomorrow, let's hope for a quinella in the cup and a winner in the last. Is anybody going to go to Rotorua? Is there any news from the Franklin trials regarding The Faithful and his immediate future and does anybody know if Some Change is still on track for his first public appearance?
Update ... Nice trial by The Faithful ... just seen the video replay on HRNZ website. Won untouched, leading all the way and holding off Sky Major who was driven along in the final bit.
Further Update ... Good run by Major Star who worked hard and beaten by a horse that sat on the fence after receiving a 20m start on Major Star. Major Change did nothing ... is he O.K.?
Further Update ... Great effort first up by Bettors Pocket. Wide for a long time, forged clear and beaten on the line. He looks like a really promising horse.

Hi Des, yes you have highlighted yet another example of the inadequate handicapping system that we have here in NZ. Unless we change to the two tier country/metro system like they have in Australia then the pool of NZ racing horses will only continue to shrink as horses reach their mark too quickly here and are sold across the Tasman.
I did notice the Talktomeurmajest and Change Stride wins - the Change Stride win as it was a horse bred by Rob Carr, and the Talktomeurmajesty win as the second placed horse Ideal Diamante was previously part owned by me. He has had some awful runs lately but the second placing last night may indicate that he is heading back towards his potential as he showed some real promise when he started racing.

As an aside a colleague has informed me that Barry Purdon has offloaded two horses from his stable in recently, both across the Tasman, one is Can't Refuse and the other is Platinum Belle who is Ideal Belle's half sister. It appears that Platinum Belle was not born with the speed gene that our Belle has and it did seem inevitable that she would be offloaded as soon as she secured her maiden win.

Interesting handicap system when a horse, Major Change, with 7 country wins (has never even started in the city) / 2 placings and $27,900 in prize money gets 20m on Sunday starting alongside a horse, Major Star, with 8 wins (5 at Alexandra Park and 1 in Australia) / 13 placings including 3 Group 1 starts and a second placing in the Harness Jewels for $115,500 in prize money. If The Faithful had been entered, he as a C4 would also have been off 20m despite earning $85,000 from 7 wins, all at Alexandra Park. It is disappointing that The Faithful has to take on far tighter assessed horses rather than his peers but even then the races do not attract enough nominations for them to stand up. It seems that all the second tier New Zealand horses are over here in Perth. Last night Talktomeurmajesty and Change Stride both won at Narrogin (150 km south of Perth).

One of the best wins in last to first style with excellent closing sectionals for a grass track. It was interesting to see the vigour used by D Butcher on Major Change after the stewards chatted to him about his lack of vigour in the previous race (see stewards report). Two great wins for ATC 2014 either side of New Year as a result of two great drives, making it 17 wins overall for this syndicate. Major Change is now a C4 but is yet to race at Alexandra Park. He seems suited to the Country Cups circuit ... does anyone know his future racing pathway? Does anyone have an update on Ideal Belle? I see that The Faithful is now the Barry Purdon stable top money earner for the current season. I may be dreaming but ... Chariots of Fire ... the long home straight at Menangle ... behind the leader half way down the straight  

Yes- he made a major change to don the Superman cloak on the turn  and came home faster than a speeding bullet.

Good to see him well recovered from the health issue which was identified post his previous race.

Another DJB special drive.

The was a nice win today by Change at the Wairarapa dual code meeting.
He clearly loves the grass. I had all but written him off as a winning chance at the final bend, thinking him to be too far back in a 13 horse field meaning a lot of "traffic" in front of him in the mad scramble to the finish.
Geoff Small had his usual good results at the meeting with a 3rd in the first race, a stable quinella in the second race and a stable trifecta in the third race.

I just came across this article on the HRNZ website.

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Good luck tonight.

Plenty of well staked Country Cups coming up over the next few months, plus other racing on left handed tracks, where he should be competitive.

Major Change had his second workout appearance this preparation, today at Pukekohe.
There were 5 starters with Cyclone Prince (No.1) being a no-show. Change was well placed in 2nd place throughout much of the run where they were mostly in Indian file. They bunched up nearing the 500m mark with Change on the inside in the trail behind the leader, but he was unable to stay with the leader or the two horses outside of the leader entering the final straight - with those three putting a reasonable gap on the two Small runners (Major Change and Sea MC) with Change finishing 4th.
Geoff Small did seem a little disappointed with the run and advises that they will be seeking to place him in races largely away from Auckland, with the first of these to be at Cambridge on Sunday 15th November. Grass track racing over the summer is also an option.

The June newsletter indicated that Major Change had some puffiness in his leg and was on hold for a while. Does anyone have an update on Major Change or any of the other syndicate horses?