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FIFA World Cup 2026 posterRiviera Rebel on song for Wairio Cup
Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk • May 29th, 2026 1:33 pm
Riviera Rebel will contest the AB Lime & Hyde Landscaping Wairio Cup (2200m) at Wingatui on Sunday | Photo: Race Images South
Riverton trainers Graham Eade and Brooke Kincaid are excited to get their stable star Riviera Rebel back on a Heavy track when they head to Wingatui on Sunday for the AB Lime & Hyde Landscaping Wairio Cup (2200m).
It will be take two for the southern feature, with last week’s meeting at the Dunedin track abandoned following a slip in the second race, with the track subsequently being fully vertidrained, and it was passed fit to race this weekend following a set of jump outs earlier this week.
Riviera Rebel has several factors going his way heading into the meeting – a Heavy10 track rating on Friday morning and a barrier draw of one – with his top weight of 60kg being co-trainer and co-owner Eade’s only worry.
With Kelvin Tyler claiming on both Vamos and Prince Alby, Riviera Rebel will carry four kilograms more than his closest rival.
“He is good in himself and the track should suit him as well as the draw,” Eade said. “It is just the weight that is the concern.”
Runner-up in the Riverton Cup (2147m) last month, Riviera Rebel then trekked north to Riccarton last month where he finished last in the Gr.3 Canterbury Gold Cup (2000m), but Eade said he didn’t get conditions to suit, and he expects him to bounce back on a more forgiving surface.
“He just won’t let down if the track is rock hard,” Eade said. "He went very well in the Riverton Cup on a wetter track.”
While keen to press on through the winter with his charge, Eade said options are quickly becoming scarce in the south, with a North Island campaign increasingly becoming a likely option.
“There’s not a lot around for him, we don’t know what to do at this stage,” he said. “I have got trainer mates up there (North Island) that I could send him up to, so it is a thought.”
Eade is also upbeat about the prospects of last start runner-up Vitebsk in the Speight’s (1600m).
“Her work has been very good, I am quite happy with her,” he said. “We are expecting her to go well.”
The stable will also be represented by Orepuki Gem in the Be My Guest Design (2200m), while stable favourite Ataahua Pipedream could have his final career start in the Property Brokers Ray Kean (1400m).
“Ataahua Pipedream is getting very close to finishing, but we thought we would knock the distance back and head to a wet track,” Eade said. “He is just a nice horse, is nice to take anywhere and keeps the other ones calm.”
