Horse Racing: Tall Poppy ride to Cassidy

By Mike Dillon

Jim Cassidy is to be offered the $A1 million Doncaster ride on Tall Poppy who was a record-breaking winner at Tauranga yesterday.

"Jim used to ride for me here a lot before he moved to Australia," said trainer Noel Eales after Tall Poppy clocked an outstanding 1.20.50 which significantly clipped the 1400m track record of 1.21.11 set by class mare Plume in 1991.

The staggering feature of Tall Poppy's effort was it being almost impossible for her not to improve with the race.

She had not started since winning the Owners' Federation Cup at Ellerslie on January 2 and with a tough Sydney campaign to follow, Eales, the best in the business at it, has left a bit of tightening still to do.

"I had to leave as much in her as I could without a winning effort hurting her," Eales said.

Rider Robert Hannam added to the class of the performance when he declared Tall Poppy had loafed when left clear in front soon after rounding the home turn.

Tall Poppy will run in the Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes at Te Aroha on March 13 before heading to Sydney.

Eales is happy enough with the 52kg Tall Poppy was given when Doncaster weights were declared on Monday.

"We thought she'd get between 51kg and 52kg," he said.

Eales has not yet approached Jim Cassidy, who may be committed to outstanding miler Bezeal Bay.

Palia was nominated for the $NZ1.3 million Queen Elizabeth Cup in Hong Kong on April 18 yesterday morning before stretching Tall Poppy's neck at Tauranga.

"She's strengthened up tremendously," trainer Laurie Laxon said, "and I think she'd be a good representative in the Hong Kong race."

Palia's rider Noel Harris felt the mare may have gone even closer but for being held up fractionally approaching the home bend.

"This mare's been unlucky not to have won a big race. It was a big effort because she was dropping back to 1400m from 2000m."

D-day for Davidson

Kelly Davidson will know on Friday if her immediate future is returning to race riding or a date with the operating theatre.

She has an appointment with a specialist and that visit will determine if the collarbone she broke in a race fall at Te Awamutu in December has healed sufficiently to allow her to return to the saddle.

If it hasn't, she will require an operation which will include a bone graft and a plate being inserted into the collarbone.

Davidson had hoped to return to race riding in mid-January which would have allowed her to represent New Zealand in the International Apprentices' series in Macau in late January.

But x-rays showed the broken collarbone had not even started to knit.

"This time I'm hopeful. It feels pretty good, although I can still feel it a bit," said Davidson, a spectator at Tuesday's Cambridge trials.

"If it hasn't knitted they want to take some bone off my hip to put in the collarbone and insert a rod."

Davidson said she is light enough to allow her to begin race riding in little more than a week if she gets her clearance.

"My fitness is heading in the right direction but really the best way to get properly fit is to be race riding.

"I can't wait to get back into it. I get a bit depressed sitting around."