Otago mare out to pillage some Canterbury silk on Sunday
Matt Markham - Raceform • June 27th, 2025 11:00 AM • 4 min read
Amber Hoffman doesn’t mind a bit of travel now and then with her horses, especially when it results in success, and she’s hoping another trek this week can deliver the goods.
Based in Waikouaiti, near Dunedin, Hoffman’s travel is among the most arduous of all the harness trainers in the lower South Island. But when horses like Betting Sensation step out at Addington and win like she did last start, it makes things a bit easier.
Her win a fortnight ago was enough to qualify for the $25,000 Silk Road Series Final for the lower-grade pacing mares, and the chance to race for good money isn’t lost on Hoffman or the horse’s connections.
“It’s made it a bit easier to plan for her over the winter months, that’s for sure,” Hoffman told RaceForm.
“We targeted the series down south too, but it was probably just a little too rich for her even if she didn’t disgrace herself in the heats. But we spotted the one at Addington and thought it looked a little more up our alley, and so far it’s proven to be.”
With the guidance of Kimberly Butt, Betting Sensation was an eye-catching fifth first up. Then, with a sweet trip last time out, she delivered a knockout blow up the markers to claim a heat victory and rocket into this week’s final.
“I was really happy with her first run and we left her up with Kim and Jonny Cox for the week and she won the next start, so that was great. We brought her home after that for a bit of a freshen up and she’s been very happy in her work.”
Originally trained by Kirstin Green in Southland, Betting Sensation found her way to Hoffman for work on the beach to help with issues in her feet, and while the win last time out was the first, she’s hardly gone a bad race since joining the team.
“She suffers from a bit of laminitis in all of her feet, so the beach helps there. That’s why we brought her back down home too, just to check on them and get her back in the surf for a while and it seems like it’s worked.
“I drove her in work today (Tuesday) and she was full of herself, which Kirstin always said was a good sign that she was feeling really well, so that’s encouraging.”
The only peril of a heat win in the Silk Road Series is the penalty that comes with it in the final under the preferential barrier draw system, which has Betting Sensation drawn out wide this weekend.
“That’s not ideal, but hopefully she can slot into a good spot and they roll along in front of her, she needs that tempo to be strong to bring her into play. If we can get that and she’s running home well, we will be happy.”
It’ll be a busy Sunday for Hoffman, who as well as keeping an eye on proceedings at Addington will have three members of her thoroughbred team in at Wingatui, headed by noted stayers Wild Jakkal and Secret Wish.
