Smart filly Taroni (NZ) (Showcasing) will step out as one of the favoured runners in Saturday’s Gr.3 Hawke’s Bay Breeders’ Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) at Hastings.
Taroni is currently rated second favourite ($4.60) with the TAB for the three-year-old fillies contest behind Babylon Berlin ($3.20).
The Lance Noble-trained daughter of Showcasing will be back against her own age and sex after finishing a last start fourth in the Gr.3 Northland Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) earlier this month.
“She probably needed that run,” Noble said. “She has come on a lot since then.
“It was a funny sort of a race, they spread out a bit but they weren’t going that hard, I thought her last 600 was very good.”
Noble is hoping a gear change will aide her chances and is confident jockey Leith Innes will give her every chance to make her presence felt.
“We have taken the side winkers off and put blinkers on,” Noble said. “We will just see if that helps her get in the race a bit more.
“He (Leith Innes) is a Group One jockey and he knows what he is doing so he will have a plan in his head.
“If she jumps well we will try and use that natural speed if we can.”
Bred by Nearco Stud, Taroni was purchased by Cambridge Stud out of Curraghmore's 2019 NZB Book 1 draft. -NZ Racing Desk
