Mike Dillon
Stu Manning would like to back Katy Keen up in next week's $150,000 Rotorua Cup.
Not that he believes a win in tomorrow's $140,000 Travis Stakes at Te Rapa is a formality.
But the Tauranga trainer would love Katy Keen to take the Rotorua feature and repeat the win of his gallant performer Syndrome back in 1974.
"It would be a big thrill to be able to take that sort of double," said Manning yesterday.
Many trainers would not even consider backing up such a valuable mare as Katy Keen a week after a major assignment like tomorrow's for fear of what effect the physical exertion might have.
That is not even a consideration for Manning. "She'd be the greatest back-up horse you'd see," he says.
"I used to trial her coming up to a race and she thrived on it."
Manning's concern is what Katy Keen's winning sequence - which will be seven if she wins tomorrow and next week - would do to her handicap rating for major spring staying races.
"I'm going to have to be careful with her - I need to talk to someone," said Manning, convincing himself he needed advice from the NZTR handicapping panel.
Katy Keen isn't quite at `Sunline' odds for tomorrow's race and, in fact, her $2.10 TAB quote yesterday looked more than reasonable.
If she deals with the others like she has in recent starts that quote will look double odds.
She beat subsequent $700,000 Mercedes Derby winner C'est La Geurre at Otaki three starts back, then came from well off the pace when there was a clear on-speed bias in the St Leger at Trentham.
Talented Shining Light put a big break on the field at the 300m in the Manawatu Breeders Stakes and Katy Keen not only set out after her, she did the job easily.
The telling factor in the class of that performance is that there was five lengths back to the third horse behind Shining Light.
And amazingly, Manning says he is happier with Katy Keen now then before the Manawatu race.
As strong as Katy Keen looks tomorrow, Manning says he never counts a win until the horse is well and truly over the line. Pre-race confidence is not something he is known for. "By the time I get them to the races they're no hope. My staff reckon I'm hopeless like that."
Lately it's been more of a case of the fear Katy Keen installs in others.
Kirra Sand, Overkaast and Pams Pompellier are strong chances behind Katy Keen.
Everything went wrong for Kirra Sand in the Breeders Stakes at Te Aroha. She was checked after coming out of the barrier stalls and when she found herself at the tail of the big field on a lead-dominated surface rider Jason Waddell elected to quickly ride her forward.
The tactics didn't work, but then sitting at the back of the field that day didn't work for most horses either.
Overkaast had no luck in Katy Keen's Breeders Stakes at Manawatu and has a good record at Te Rapa.