Local training star looking for biggest win of her career

Sir Albert has the form to beat the northerners in today's big mile at Riccarton. Photo/Ajay Berry

One of the training stars of South Island racing has one concern as she chases the richest win of her career in the $250,000 TAB Mile at Riccarton today.

Home track horsewoman Terri Rae is the punter’s darling, her horses consistently among the best backed at every South Island meeting she attends and that will be the case again on the middle day of New Zealand Cup week.

Rae has Sir Albert as the $4 favourite in the Group 3 mile, which somewhat surprisingly would be the richest race she has ever won if she manages to pull it off.

While her strike rate is consistently among the best on the national trainer’s premiership, Rae often deals in low-cost horses or those transferred south because they were struggling to be competitive in the North Island.

So while she has already won her share of races this spring, the TAB Mile would be a new high point for a trainer who rarely has more than 12 or 14 in work.

“The team is racing well and this horse is pretty versatile,” says Rae.

“He won at 2000m last time but 1600m the start before so I think he would be competitive at either distance. He is just a really good little horse.

“But I’m not happy about the draw. I’d love him to have drawn in because he can jump and he could have stayed handy but it is a bit of a nothing draw.

“That means he is going to need luck now.”

Sir Albert does still have the double advantages of being in peak form and on his home track for a Group 3 that has fallen away in the last fortnight, considering those who were in the early entries.

There are still plenty of black type proven horses in the field though like Perfect Scenario, Tomuch, Ears Back and the highly-talented Matscot but being a handicap, they find themselves carrying decent weights.

In the case of Matscot he may be good enough to get away with his 57.5kgs as he is a big strong horse and has a big-race rider in Joe Doyle.

The newcomer to open class who looks beautifully placed is Cannon Hill, who won a good race at Ellerslie just last Tuesday for trainer Tony Pike.

He gets barrier 1, which wasn’t the place to be on Saturday but who knows how the track will play today, as well as NZ 1000 Guineas winning rider Matt Cartwright.

While the TAB Mile is the undoubted highlight of the middle day of the carnival, Rae suggests punters should have a second look at Cashla Bay, who is having her first start in the south for her today.

The Oaks Stud-owned filly was well beaten in the Cambridge Stud Northern Breeders Stakes, won by Tajana at Ruakākā in August but was a strong winner the start before and looks to have found the right race in which to make her stable debut today.

Cartwright again does the riding.

There will be some key Riccarton interest before today’s meeting gets under way with the fields for Saturday’s last day of the carnival to be released before 11am, including the draw for the NZ 2000 Guineas.

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.