Forbes happy to wait for his introduction to deep south racing
Matt Markham - Raceform • February 12th, 2026 1:58 PM
He’s had to wait a little longer than expected for his first foray into the deep south, but Mark Forbes is pretty excited about getting down to Invercargill this weekend.
Having campaigned horses at Riccarton before, the Cambridge horseman knows what it’s all about when heading to the mainland, but stretching down into the real depths of the island is a new kind of scenario.
Technically, he should have already enjoyed it with his exciting three-year-old Perfect Habit set to line up in the Gore Guineas a fortnight ago, but an abandoned meeting put an end to those plans and they’ve had to wait until this week at Invercargill to get the taste.
“I got to see some nice scenery travelling from Dunedin to Gore, but that was about it. Hopefully this week we get to see a little bit more, perhaps even the winners’ circle,” he told RaceForm.
And Forbes means business this weekend. He’s plotted a careful path toward this southern campaign, with a number of key factors playing a role in the decision to load Perfect Habit on to the float.
“He’s just not quite the same horse going right-handed and there’s not a lot of opportunities for him up here in the north to chase decent wins going the other way.
“The owners also have the mare, and he’s the first foal, so being able to get a bit of black type next to his name would be a real result for them too and we just decided that heading down would be the best idea.”
A winner at Trentham two starts back, when impressively beating Zorero and Prosper, Perfect Habit stepped out at Ellerslie on January 11 and Joe Doyle unfortunately lost an iron early but confirmed to the stewards post-race that the horse was never comfortable racing right-handed.
“He probably should be unbeaten going left-handed to be fair. He was electric that day at Trentham and he went massive at Wanganui when trapped three wide throughout and only just went down to Passiflora.
“We’ve got a bit of time for him and think he’s a pretty handy horse, so hopefully we can show that this weekend.”
Forbes said Perfect Habit had been based in the south with Kelly Shearing and the reports this week had been encouraging leading into the weekend’s Listed ILT Ascot Park Hotel Southland Guineas, worth $120,000.
“He had a hitout on Tuesday and Kelly said his work was phenomenal, so we’re on the right track and hopefully that can mean he’s set to run a big race this weekend.”
Sam Collett was booked to ride at Gore but she has engagements at the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes meeting on Saturday, so Forbes has booked Jack Taplin to take the ride.
The pair will meet a strong field of southern three-year-olds spearheaded by the exciting Assemble, the unbeaten Luna Capella and the tried and true of Miss Starlight and Bobby Mcgee.
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Big Saturday includes meetings at Matamata and Ascot Park. Race highlights are the Matamata Breeders Stakes and the Matamata Slipper. Tune in on Trackside 1 or trackside.co.nz from 11:30am
