Familiar colours, new surrounds for Tolemac

Running for a new stable but in familiar colours, Tolemac (Camelot {GB}) plots his path towards the G1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby when he has his first start for Paul Jenkins in Tuesday's G2 Jamieson Park Auckland Guineas (1600m).

Last seen when 14th in the G1 VRC Derby at Flemington when prepared by trainer Francis Finnegan, Tolemac has taken a circuitous route to New Zealand via Sunshine Coast trainer Jenkins, whose brother, Brian, is overseeing the start of his campaign.

Tolemac sports the same colours as Jezabeel (Zabeel), the champion mare who won the Melbourne Cup for Brian Jenkins 20 years ago, and races for a syndicate including Jenkins' two sons, Morgan and Wyatt, as well as Finnegan and Adrian Burr.

While he was a winner on debut over 1600m at Moe back in August, Tuesday's Auckland Guineas is expected to be too slick a test for Tolemac, who is being prepared for a possible shot at the NZ Derby on March 2.

“We decided to come across for a couple of races and if he comes up we’ll look at the New Zealand Derby. If not, he can spell here on the good New Zealand grass and get ready for the Queensland Derby,” Brian Jenkins said.

Jenkins and his brother will use the New Zealand trip to determine if Tolemac is a true stayer or whether he is better kept to shorter races.

“I’m not sure he’s a mile and a half (2400m) horse,” Jenkins said. “He’s best suited at a mile and a quarter (2000m), but we’ll find out."

“We didn’t get a true line on him in the Victoria Derby. As usual, he went forward and in hindsight that was a mistake. He was still there at the 300m, but all those in the first half of the field finished up in the last half.”

Quick turnaround

Tolemac trialled on December 17 at Te Awamutu, just three days after his arrival in New Zealand and finished a creditable fourth.

“It was a little bit close off the plane, but it was the last lot of trials here for the year and it would have been two months without a run if he hadn’t lined up,” he said. “He’s still learning and it was a good hit-out for him.”

Jake Bayliss, who rode Volpe Veloce (Foxwedge) to Group 1 victory on this day last year in the Sistema Railway, takes the ride on Tolemac.

“Jake and I go a long way back,” Jenkins, who has been retired from training in his own right for about three years, said. "I gave him his first race ride and he rode a winner for me, so did his father Jamie when he made a comeback, and so did his brother (Regan).”

Finnegan will resume training the horse when he returns to Australia, with the Jenkins brothers offering to help out for the time being, with the horse based at Shaun and Emma Clotworthy’s stables at Byerley Park while in New Zealand,

“Francis and his wife are busy with their team so didn’t really have the time to come over here with just one horse,” he said.

Getting the band back together

Brian Jenkins' connection with Tolemac came after he was sold for $44,000 at the 2017 Classic Sale and he was asked to prepare the horse for the 2017 Ready 2 Race Sale in Melbourne.

“He was passed in at $80,000,” Jenkins said. “He’s got a good action and I liked his character so we got the syndicate together.”

The dam Zermatt (Shaft) was a $170,000 yearling who only had two starts but is out of Group 2 winner Zanna (NZ) (Pentire {GB}), who herself is out of stakes-winner Posing (NZ).

Tolemac is her first foal, while her second foal, a filly, Moments In Time (Uncle Mo {USA}), was retained by breeder Victoria Adams-Smith and is in training with Frank Phillips, also on the Sunshine Coast.

The yearling brother by No Nay Never (USA) was a $50,000 weanling buy for Pinhook Bloodstock and is catalogued as Lot 989 in Book 2 of the NZB Karaka 2019 Sale. Zermatt also recently foaled a colt by Rubick.