Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images)
With a view to what the long-term future holds for Saturday’s feature Tauranga winner Omega Boy (Time Test), the Gr.2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2100m) will be next on his schedule to assess his middle-distance potential.
Off the back of a Rating 75 1400m win a fortnight before at Hawera, trainers Peter and Trent Didham made a well calculated move to step their rapidly improving five-year-old up to Group Two northern company in the Ultimate Mazda Japan Trophy (1600m).
Ridden by Cambridge apprentice Sam McNab, Omega Boy proved right up to the task, finishing hard down the centre of the track to overhaul Sterling Express and fellow proven performers Khafre and Qali Al Farrasha.
Peter Didham has since confirmed another Group Two set weight and penalty feature for the Time Test gelding, the Awapuni Gold Cup at Trentham on Saturday week.
“We’ve thought for a while that he would make a good middle-distance horse, so while he’s at the top of his form is the ideal time to test him,” Didham said.
After a meritorious sixth placing in the Gr.2 Thorndon Mile at Trentham in January, a trip south for last month’s Gr.3 White Robe Lodge Weight-For-Age at Wingatui was considered before opting for a far less challenging assignment closer to his rating band.
“The Wingatui race was tempting but at rating of 79 he wouldn’t have been very well placed under weight-for-age conditions and we decided on the benchmark race up at Hawera.
“We were looking for a soft kill and that’s exactly how it turned out. As well as giving him a confidence boost, winning that race got him out of that danger zone where horses in the high 70s, low 80s can find themselves.
“That took his rating to 83 and even though he was up against some decent types at Tauranga, he’s just kept improving and we felt he deserved his chance at a race like that.”
While well satisfied with how McNab handled Omega Boy, who earned another 12 rating points to go to 95, Didham has opted for the experience of Group One centurion Opie Bosson at Trentham.
“Sam rode him well, no complaints at all, he’s a very promising young jockey. But while we’ve got the chance to put Opie on, why wouldn’t we?
“What the horse does will determine our plans for next season and with Opie on him, he’ll be able to give us a full appraisal of how he manages the extra distance.”
While not comparing Omega Boy to triple Group One winner Waitaki, Didham is well aware that after returning to form in last year’s Japan Trophy at 1600m, the Proisir gelding readily made the step up to a middle-distance in the Awapuni Gold Cup.
That enabled trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott to firm up new season plans and they were rewarded when Waitak won the second and third legs of the spring triple crown, the Gr. 1 Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) and Gr. 1 Livamol Classic (2040m).
“I’m not suggesting our horse is in the same league as Waitak, but the route they took with him this time last year is another good reason why it also makes sense for Omega Boy,” Didham said.
