Tauranga Classic winner Cork is building towards the Gr. 3 Winter Cup.
Richard Edmunds - Raceform • July 19th, 2025 9:00 AM • 3 min read
Saturday’s Opunake Cup at New Plymouth is the road most commonly travelled by North Islanders heading to the Gr. 3 Winter Cup, but Cork is staying closer to home and will instead line up at Rotorua.
With the $110,000 Winter Cup at Riccarton on August 2 looming large on her horizon, the Pam Gerard-trained Cork will have her final lead-up run in Saturday’s Arawa Park Hotel Rotorua 1560.
“We’re going to Rotorua instead of New Plymouth this weekend because I just don’t think she needs that much travel,” Gerard explained. “We’ve got the big trip to Christchurch coming up.
“We were considering going straight into the Winter Cup without another run, but she’s doing so well that I think another hitout at Rotorua will do her some good. We’ll use Jack Taplin’s claim to help with the weight.”
Next month will mark the third Winter Cup tilt for Cork, who was runner-up behind Belardo Boy in 2023 and finished eighth last year.
Having often been so close, but so far away from black-type success, Gerard was delighted to see Cork finally break through with a last-start win in the Listed Tauranga Classic on June 21.
“She really deserved that,” the Matamata trainer said. “She’s been knocking on the door for the last couple of years and has had multiple placings at that level, so it was nice to see her get the win on the board.
“Everything’s gone great with her since then too. She’s very, very well. I’d say she’s probably the best she’s ever been. We’ve had a few issues with her feet during her career, but touch wood, they’ve given us no problems at all so far this year. She’s looking fantastic and she’s very full of herself.”
The TAB’s fixed-odds market for the Winter Cup sees Belardo Boy holding favouritism at $5, with Cork and Bradman the equal $8 second favourites. Other prominent contenders include Chase ($10), Conor O’Ceirin ($10), Bozo ($12), Ears Back ($13), Enrico ($13), Benefactor ($14), Aljay, Knights Realm and Pride Of Aspen (all $15).
The well-related daughter of Zacinto has placed in two of her six starts so far, including a last-start third at Te Aroha on June 22.
“She’s a half-sister to Pendragon and has got it all there ability-wise,” Gerard said. “She’s a speedy little thing. She’s just taken a while to figure everything out, but she’s on the right track now.
“She handled the heavy ground well last time. Those sorts of conditions seem to have scared a few away this week and it’ll be a small field. We think she can be very competitive.”
