Racing: Bad luck for Partee

Chris Bothwell looked across to his father Dick moments after the Marton Cup field jumped and fired off a classic quip - "How quick can you saddle her up?"

The Stratford father and son training partnership's emerging staying star Partee was stuck as first emergency for the $50,000 race on Saturday, only to have Rising Heights scratched at the barrier.

To prove their point at how unlucky she was to miss a crack at the Awapuni feature, Partee came out two hours later and won the progressive 2000m like she was headed straight to the top.

"It's fair to say we were disappointed at missing a start, but her chance will come," said Bothwell, who also has a third share in the exciting four-year-old.

The fact that Darryl Bradley committed to the Marton Cup ride while she was still on the ballot says a lot.

Partee is still among the early nominations for the Wellington Cup, but yesterday Bothwell had serious doubts about pursuing a start on Saturday week.

"We really only put her in there as an option. She's still a four-year-old mare and still doing a few things wrong. We don't want to murder her for just one race."

Bothwell, who shares the ownership with long-time pal Johnny McCarvill, is keen to set Partee for the Whakanui Stud International Stakes at Te Rapa on February 12.

He wants to use that weight-for-age feature as a trial for a possible Australian campaign.

The Bothwells' Wellington Cup focus switches to their two-win stayer Highflying, who will need to punch well above her weight on opening day of the carnival to be any hope of making the cup field.

But if she can qualify in either the weight-for-age 2400m, or the open handicap next Monday, Chris Bothwell said she's more than just a runner's chance at Trentham.

Bothwell said the inclement summer weather has put the brakes on her cup preparation until now.

TAB bookies yesterday rated Highflying a $50 cup chance with Partee still safe at $25.