SISTEMA RAILWAY (GROUP 1)

START Wondering left Ellerslie racegoers in no doubt as to his ability winning the first Group 1 race of the season on New Year’s Day for the father and daughter training combination of Evan and J.J. Rayner, the win was their first at the highest level.

By the ill-fated Eight Wonder, a Zabeel full-brother the AJC Derby winner Don Eduardo, Start Wondering had been trained in Australia by Chris Waller before a bleeding attack saw him banned for three months prior to his return to New Zealand. The owners then sent the six-year-old to the Raynors. Surging clear in the final 100 metres, Start Wondering won by one and a quarter lengths with the Elusive City mare Perfect Fit second and the Pins mare Reilly Lincoln third. Ridden by Jonathon Parkes, it was a race-to-race group double for the jockey, who had won the previous on St Jean. “I had him just where I wanted him as I didn’t want to be on the fence,” said Parkes.

“The pace really made it for me as he likes the speed on and when it was time to move he really came over the top of them. In the end he was just too good.”