Pitman eyeing the skies and the draws ahead of Wingatui
Matt Markham - Raceform • February 5th, 2026 3:40 PM
Michael Pitman was sitting on the fence midweek about just how imposing a team he and his son Matthew could be taking to Wingatui on Saturday, but if they show up in numbers, expect a good day out for the leading barn.
After a busy few weeks of travelling horses between their home base in Riccarton and Trentham for the Wellington Cup Carnival, they will keep their feet firmly planted on the mainland this week and head south to Dunedin, but what horses are on the float remains up in the air.
Stable star Mystic Park is in the field for the Listed Property Brokers – Ray Kean Hazlett Stakes, but his presence will be dependent on track conditions among other factors in the lead-up to Saturday.
“He’s a very well horse and has come back from Wellington well, we just don’t really want to be on a deep track with him,” Pitman told RaceForm. “He won’t mind a little bit of rain, but anything above that and he’d be unlikely.
“Barrier draws will play a part as well. We’ve got a couple of targets for him before he heads to the paddock for a break, so we’re conscious of the impact that a big run this week might have on those too.”
The priority is the Gr.3 White Robe Lodge WFA on February 28, and the idea behind heading south for the $80,000 Hazlett Stakes this week was to get a look at Wingatui because the son of Ocean Park has never been there.
“It’ll be a fact-finding mission for him if we do go, for sure. But we can’t fault the horse at home, his run in the Thorndon Mile probably looked a little disappointing but he just didn’t cop the track up there.
“We did have thoughts of perhaps heading to Matamata with him, but he’s done enough travelling this campaign and we’ll be keen to get those few extra starts into him and then head to the paddock with a view to being up and ready to tackle the Triple Crown in the spring. I think he’ll relish getting up to the 2000 metres next time in.”
Third Decree is also nominated for Saturday’s Hazlett Stakes, but she too is beholden to the track conditions.
“We’ve gone into too many races with her now thinking she was a good chance only to be tripped up by a track that was wetter than what she can handle.
“A Soft5 or 6 seems to be okay, but anything above a 7 and she struggles. Like the other horse though, she is really well at home, we just need that little bit of luck to go her way for her to be there and be a chance.”
One runner certain to be heading to Dunedin is Ocean Light, who will step out in the rescheduled Gore Cup following last Sunday’s abandonment.
A quick look at the form would suggest things haven’t been quite going right for the capable open handicapper and those looks would be correct.
“Not much has gone right for him. He was hopeless on the Heavy8 last time out and just not happy at all, and then at Kumara he stood in a hole and never took part after that.
“You’d say he was struggling looking at his recent results, but he’s just had nothing go his way and it would be no surprise to see him come out and run a big race this weekend.”
Pitman said the game plan for Ocean Light moving forward was to point toward the $180,000 Dunedin Gold Cup on the same day as the White Robe Lodge race.
