By Neil Evans
The comeback trail of a tough and high-class galloper can take a giant stride in Thursday’s feature Provincial Midway Championships Qualifier at Newcastle.
Matcha Latte, a lightly raced son of Japanese champion Maurice in the Sara Ryan stable at Wyong, is set to springboard into the Provincial-Midway Championships showdown at Randwick on April 12.
Trainer Sara Ryan.Credit: Getty Images
An ultra-promising youngster who tackled consecutive Group 1 races as a three-year-old back in the autumn of 2023 when based with Mark Newnham before he headed to Hong Kong, Matcha Latte struck all sorts of problems in the seasons to come.
Transferred to the Ryan yard, he was narrowly beaten in the Group 3 Carbine over a mile at Randwick that April, but sadly was forced into the paddock for more than a year.
It was a slow-burning process to get back before Macha Latte returned with a fighting second placing in the Group 3 Cameron Hcp (1500m) at Newcastle early last spring.
But another setback came at a subsequent trial session when he suffered a bleeding attack and was sidelined by stewards again.
Yet never losing faith, connections brought Matcha Latte back off two trials for the Qualifier at Newcastle on March 1.
Rock solid in the market and rolling forward from a middle gate, he was pipped right on the line by promising staying type Welcometobarbados.
With that much-needed run under his belt, Matcha Latte now looks primed to go one better, opening around $4.00 with bookmakers, narrowly ahead of last start winner Wooloowin ($4.40) and talented French Ruler ($6.50) who finished a close second in the Listed Canberra Guineas.
Matcha Latte was around the $8.50 mark with a clump of other runners for the big Randwick showdown, while Wooloowin is around $11.00 across All-In betting and French Ruler $15.00.
The top two placegetters from six Qualifiers run at Class 5 level, and the top three from the final Wildcard race on March 29, will all qualify in a full field of 15 for the lucrative Final.
The Newcastle meeting is set to be run on a Good 4 rating, with the rail out 4m.
Supplied by Racing NSW
Full form and race replays available at racingnsw.com.au
