Horse racing: Ken Kelso eyes Group 1 win with Alabama Lass in Sistema Railway

Alabama Lass. Photo / Kenton Wright Race Images

Trainer Ken Kelso doesn’t want to talk about today’s barrier draw for the $700,000 Sistema Railway at Ellerslie this Saturday.

So far his audacious plan to win the Group 1 super sprint with three-year-old filly Alabama Lass has gone perfectly and Kelso doesn’t want to jinx it.

The barriers for the Railway won’t be among those publicly drawn at the Karaka sales complex from 10.30am this morning, that will be reserved for the signature races of the Karaka Millions meeting, the KM two- and three-year-old events.

But the draws for the other four black-type races at the $5,050,000 racing extravaganza will be announced around the same time and Kelso, who trains the filly with wife Bev, knows a decent barrier draw could win Alabama Lass the Railway.

The Railway will be the last race of the fast and furious twilight meeting and the Kelsos had to make a decision between it and the G3 Cambridge Stud Almanzor Trophy, which she probably would have won.

“The reality is the Almanzor will still be a really good race but it is a Group 3 and she [Alabama Lass] already has a Group 3 and a Group 2 so it wouldn’t increase her value much,” says Kelso.

“But a Group 1 obviously does so we decided that was the target and we are very happy with the decision.”

That decision was influenced by the fact that being only a three-year-old, she carries just 52kg and even gets 0.5kg from arch-rival and her 1000 Guineas conqueror Captured By Love, who has to carry more courtesy of that Group 1 win.

There is little between the two wonderful fillies but Alabama Lass looks the more natural 1200m candidate as she tries to emulate another Kelso galloper, Bounding, who finished second in the 1000 Guineas before winning the 2014 Railway.

Kelso has so far had no reason to second guess his decision, with Alabama Lass jogging to a four-and-a-half length trial win over 1000m at Matamata last week, her time only marginally slower than Railway race rival Babylon Berlin.

“I was happy with her trial and again with her work this morning,” said Kelso yesterday.

“Sam [Spratt, raceday jockey] came down to ride her and she worked 1000m against the rail on the course proper.

“It was really nice work, 1000m in a tick over a minute with her last 600m in 34.8 seconds so I think she is where she needs to be.

“She will need to be though. It is a good competitive field and most of the established open-class horses are there.”

Her featherweight will make Alabama Lass awfully hard to catch if she can lead or sit just off the speed but a handy draw would be helpful, and possibly mean Spratt would have options rather than having to burn early to get past or around speedsters like Babylon Berlin or Bonny Lass.

Alabama Lass heads the pre-draw futures market at $2.80 but no matter how the draws falls, that market will need some reshuffling once the final field is known around 10.30am this morning.

Captured By Love, who will be ridden by superstar Australian jockey Craig Williams, sits on the third line of betting at $7, with Crocetti the $5 second-favourite.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.