Invercargill Cup Day - 5 to follow
Jonny Turner • December 18th, 2025 9:23 AM • 4 min read
Group One racing takes centre stage in Southland on Friday, with Ascot Park Hotel Invercargill Cup Day. With 12 outstanding, even fields, punters will be spoilt for choice. Racing journalist Jonny Turner is here to help with his five horses to follow.
He’s big, he’s raw and he’s got a motor. It sounds good but he is probably not your typical Ascot Park horse. However the key to this promising three-year-old’s chances is that his two main rivals have drawn tricky spots. Always Dreaming is snookered away in barrier 1 on the second row, while Seaside Rose is drawn towards the outside of the second row. J T Boe has shown he can rough it and I expect Tim Williams to keep him in clear air and let him show off his staying prowess.
A 15m head-start will do me. Stepping back up to the 2700m staying trip after a second placing in a Group One Dominion looks just perfect for Mr Love. He has to beat his stablemate Muscle Mountain who is a deserved favourite, but with a 15m handicap advantage I think he can do just that. The key to the race looks to be Mr Love maintaining his head-start on his stablemate and main rival. With the horses in front of them in the handicaps, it looks unlikely anything would hold out Mr Love if he were to press towards the lead. That’s the scenario in which he can come out on top.
Sometimes at Ascot Park you don’t have to go with the best horse in the race. Without wanting to disrespect anyone involved, I think Transonic is the best horse in Friday’s fifth event. But the race looks to set up perfectly for Treacherous Dreams. He’s got gate speed, a great draw and a positive driver, plus he is in form. And to be clear, he is no slouch. He brings very respectable Addington form south. Transonic may prove to be too good, and it may depend on how far off the speed he is from barrier 4 on the second row. But given he opened at $1.65, Treacherous Dreams looks the more attractive play.
She’s probably just better than her rivals. Becky’s Girl brings form through a stronger series of Addington races than her rivals do. She’s mixed it with top class colts and geldings, as well as fillies, and gone some very good races in the process. Becky’s Girl has drawn a little wide, but most of her rivals aren’t likely to make her work too hard if she wants to press forward. Expect her to be on the speed and hard to beat.
Being on speed and out of trouble will be the plan for this big striding trotter. He’s another that may not look perfectly suited to Ascot Park at first glance, but he cornered like a greyhound when winning his only start at the track. The three-year-old gives away experience, but he doesn’t look to give away a talent advantage to those off handicaps. If he is able to step away cleanly he might set a task that will prove too tough for those behind him. He looks the pick of those off the front and a great Invercargill Cup Day chance.
