White has a strong hand to play in Auckland
Garrick Knight - Raceform • July 3rd, 2025 3:26 PM • 4 min read
Luck will play a big factor in how classy mare Mhai Surfer Girl fares in Friday night’s latest Silk Road Series heat at Alexandra Park.
The Matthew White-trained daughter of Downbytheseaside has drawn the inside of the second line in a stacked field over a sprint trip. That could be a blessing or a curse, depending on what the filly drawn in front of her, Allets, does at the start.
“It really just depends on where she ends up early,” White told RaceForm. “You would think Seaclusion should cross to the lead and put us three back on the fence, so if an opportunity arose for me to pop off, I would probably take it.”
Mhai Surfer Girl has sat parked in her last two starts, for a decisive win at Cambridge and a brave second at Alexandra Park in similar company to this week.
“She’s never gone a bad race and is very consistent. You know what you’re going to get with her. She’ll need a bit of luck from the draw, but if she gets it, she’s definitely a winning chance.”
White also has Spirit Of Waiheke in the same race and she’s drawn to settle handy and be competitive.
“She’s a wee trier, and if they go hard and she does no work, she could finish it off nicely. She’s sort of on her mark now and will be heading to stud very shortly.”
White’s recent arrival from Canterbury, Forgiveness, will tackle the $34,000 Classique Landscapers Silk Road Trotters Final. But White is coming into it scratching his head a wee bit after she was a well-beaten hot favourite last week.
“I thought she was little disappointing, to be fair. In saying that, she did do a fair bit of chasing. If you look at her record, she’s always been a bit ‘in and out’, so we’ll chalk it up to that.
“Whether she’s maybe better over a bit more ground, I don’t know, but she has felt really good in her trackwork since she arrived and she got round Auckland well.”
Lord Popinjay, the ‘Mr Consistent’ of North Island trotting, resumes after three months in the six-horse $20,000 Lone Star Alexandra Park Handicap Trot. He’s had a couple of trials to prepare for it and White is happy with where he is at.
A 35-metre back mark looks scary on paper, but he’s such a sharp beginner and the race is over 2700 metres, which plays to his strengths.
“He’s well credentialed for a race like that. I took him to ‘the Park’ last week for a trial against the pacers and that topped him off nicely. He does go well fresh, and obviously his biggest asset is his standing start manners.”
White has his consistent maiden mare Tytate in against race winners after her maiden race was deleted due to a lack of nominations. She’s had a short freshen-up since her last start, which was a fifth-straight second placing.
“I gave her a week off because she got a bit keen in that last run and I thought a freshen up might help her manners. This is similar horses to what she’s been racing, so I’d expect her to go well.”
