La Crique hasn’t returned to Trentham since she won the Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) as a three-year-old, and three years down the track, the star mare will line up as a leading hope in Saturday’s Gr.1 TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m).
The Desert Gold was La Crique’s first taste of stakes success and she has scarcely raced out of that company since, winning the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m), Gr.1 Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m), Gr.1 Otaki-WFA Classic (1600m), and most recently, the Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) a fortnight ago.
The daughter of Vadamos was fittingly favourite for the feature and after settling back, she had plenty of hurdles to overcome in the running. But, her class prevailed in the finish with a booming run to catch Lux Libertas at the post, a performance more than pleasing for co-trainer Katrina Alexander.
“I thought it was a great run from her, just on the sectionals and the way the race was run,” she said.
“It was a fairly slow tempo early and I thought there would’ve been more genuine speed, so the fact there was no speed, she slotted back and a bit wide and looked no hope about 100m out, to finish the way she did and win was a huge effort.
“This is a shorter turnaround than what we like to do with her, we’re most comfortable giving her three weeks’ between runs which means I don’t have to do a hell of a lot with her in that first week post-race.
“I still haven’t had to do a lot with her, she’s trained on really well and she had a nice hit-out yesterday (Tuesday). Other than that, she gets a huge amount of improvement through each run she has, so the need to be too busy with her between runs isn’t there.
“It’s just a matter of keeping her well and happy, and she certainly lets us know when she is. I’m really happy with her.”
A run of poor barrier draws will continue for La Crique on Saturday, after drawing 12 of 12 in the Auckland Breeders, she has drawn 13 of 13 in the TAB Mufhasa.
“I think she’s become the type of horse that likes to be a bit patient early, after having always appeared to be a handy-running horse,” Alexander said.
“We seem to always get the wide draws at the moment with her, but I don’t think it will have too much influence on what we do. We had talked about the possibility of sitting a bit closer so she didn’t have so much work to do, but the big long straight at Trentham allows you to get organised.
“We’ll have a chat with Michael (McNab, jockey) around the speed map and what we might do on race-day, but I’m not too worried. She’s performed at Trentham before and I think it will suit her.”
Despite the draw, La Crique is likely to start a short-priced favourite just as she did three years ago at the same venue, a reflection of her longevity as one of the country’s elite weight-for-age gallopers.
“I’m actually really proud that she’s still competing at this level,” said Alexander, who trains the six-year-old alongside her husband Simon.
“We said right back when she was a three-year-old that we would train her for longevity. Looking at her physically back then, we knew she was going to take time and she wasn’t going to furnish until she was an older mare.
“She’s done it all on natural ability back then, and we’ve had some niggles along the way since, but that’s mainly been down to feet, not body as such. Last season was a classic example of that, we probably never had her at 100 percent, but she just had enough class and ability to continue.
“You look through the races that she’s run in, it’s very rare that she has been out of black-type company, other than the very early days.
“We’ve trained her to be in the picture for a while and every preparation, she’s put her hand up and performed. A lot of horses can go missing for a season after a big three-year-old year, but she’s fronted up every time.”