Racing: Interprovincial icing on treble for partnership

Promising 4-year-old Star O'The Ball capped a great day for her trainers with an impressive victory in the $50,000 Interprovincial Invitation event at New Plymouth.

The father and daughter partnership of Evan and JJ Rayner lined up six runners at the Taranaki Racing Club meeting.

They won three races and produced the runner- up in two others.

Evan Rayner said it was one of his most successful days of his career.

"I recall having four [winners] in one day at Wanganui," he said.

"But it's a long time since I've done this, and these days we only have 16 horses in work as against the 40 or 50 I had when I was stationed at Marton.

"To bring six horses up here and do this, that's not a bad day's work."

The other winners for the Rayners were Betcha Wood and Wee Winkle with Court The Valley, the favourite in the last, their only runner not to earn any prizemoney.

Star O'The Ball was bred and owned by Gerald and Rex Fell of Palmerston North's Fairdale Stud.

The stud leases the Jetball mare out to the On The Ball syndicate with 25 members and managed by Corinne Johns, of Wanganui.

Star O'The Ball had to be a smart type to win on Saturday.

She had only one horse behind her leaving the back straight and ended up scoring by half a length from Canterbury representative Its All Good.

The runner-up did extremely well considering he came from last and looped the field.

Next home was race favourite Native Song (Hawkes Bay), who fought bravely under her topweight of 57kg in the testing conditions.

Southland-trained visitor Eight Songs showed she was up to the challenge, finishing a good fourth.

Star O'The Ball has now won four races, finishing no further back than fourth in any of her 16 starts.

Evan Rayner holds the mare in high regard.

He compared her to Kenetic, another daughter of Jetball and winner of the Castletown Stakes as a 2-year-old before going on to win a Foxton Cup and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ellerslie.

"Kinetic was a good mare, but nowhere near as good as this filly."

He said Star O'The Ball had needed time to overcome an aversion to the starting barriers before she made her debut, finishing fourth as a 3-year-old in March last year.

Star O'The Ball has only twice finished further back than fourth.

Rayner confirmed he would put in a entry for Star O'The Ball in this year's Caulfield Cup.

And New Plymouth apprentice Jade Lewis made the most of her opportunities and gave her career statistics a decent boost.

Lewis, 22, has had limited success in the two years she has been riding.

But she landed three winners from her only three rides.

The three horses started at double figure odds and one, rank outsider Katchenup, posted a whopping $45.05 win dividend in his comeback to racing following a two-year layoff.

The other two were Postdated and Mighty Taita.

Naturally "stoked" with her treble, Lewis admitted she had been wondering when or if ever things would click for her in her riding career.

"It's been a long time coming," Lewis said at the completion of her day's riding.

"It's something I desperately needed.

"Now I just need to carry it on when I'm back riding jumpers."

A popular figure in Taranaki racing circles where she is well known for her sound work ethic, Lewis took her record to eight flat wins to go with her one success over hurdles.

Lewis used her 4kg apprentice claim to good effect in all of her rides, opting to stick closer to the inside rail rather than scout wide like many of her opposition riders.

- NZPA