Racing: Miss Potential in Melbourne

Reese Jones owns New Zealand's most expensive jacket.

And the Matamata jockey is looking to get the $30,000 back.

Winning tomorrow's $200,000 Mudgway Fair Tax For Racing Stakes at Hastings aboard Miss Potential will be the first step.

It was on Miss Potential's back that Jones cost himself the biggest debit of his life.

In was in last October's A$2.5 million Cox Plate. Soon after the start Jones was coming across the field on Miss Potential looking for the lead and on the way marginally shaved the eventual winner Savabeel.

There is no judicial forgiveness in big races in Australia and Melbourne's chief steward Des Gleeson sidelined Jones for one month.

"They'd given us riders a speech before the race. At that point they hadn't 'got' a jockey over the spring carnival and I was it."

With Miss Potential due to return to New Zealand, Jones did not bother to appeal for a stay of proceedings to ride her next start and flew to the South Island to spend time with his father Barry at Washdyke.

Fortunately for the connections and unfortunately for Jones, Miss Potential struck a quarantine problem requiring her to stay in Melbourne a further week.

Owner Bill Borrie hurriedly entered her for the A$500,000 Nestle Classic, engaging Glen Boss to do the riding.

In one of the great finishes of the Melbourne spring carnival, Miss Potential held out Australia's champion filly Alinghi to win by a nose.

Boss, four days out from winning his second Melbourne Cup on Makybe Diva, picked up the A$30,000 ($32,500) winning riding fee.

Reese Jones watched the race from the public bar of the Doncaster Hotel in Washdyke.

On his back was the commemorative jacket given free to each Cox Plate jockey, but which, in fact, ended up costing him A$30,000.

"It was not one of my greatest moments," said Jones yesterday as he prepared to travel to Hastings to ride Miss Potential tomorrow.

"I took it on the chin at the time, but I was a bit wild a week later.

"I was pleased for Bill and for the mare - they both deserved that win."

Miss Potential is a remarkable racehorse. Remarkable for having joined the millionaire earnings club despite a list of injuries and problems that would have ended the career of any lesser horse long ago.

And remarkable for being constantly underrated.

Jones is not one to gush, but admits he is in awe of the mare.

"I know I'll never ride another one like her."

Jones has been aboard for five of Miss Potential's seven victories.

"She's returned me the deposit on my house and everything in the house. She also found me my fiancee Megan Woollams, who rode Miss Potential in training when she was a young horse before I knew of her, then she went to work in England."

The pair met two years ago tomorrow when Jones rode Miss Potential to win the 2003 Mudgway Stakes.

A repeat victory this time would make for an exciting anniversary.

The TAB has Miss Potential as the $4.50 Mudgway favourite and everything the mare has done since returning to work for her final career campaign has suggested that is justified.

"She was carrying a big weight when she won at the Te Teko trials and I was very happy with her trial win at Taupo on Tuesday - she was only out for a gallop and nothing else," said Jones.

The key point is that last year Miss Potential stretched the neck of Starcraft in the Mudgway then repeated that performance in the Stoney Bridge Stakes on the middle day of the Hastings carnival.

$200,000 Mudgway

* On one hand Miss Potential owes rider Reese Jones nothing - on another she owes him A$30,000 ($32,500).

* Jones is in awe of the mare's ability and wishes he'd been on her back when she won the A$500,000 Nestle Classic in Melbourne last spring.

* Miss Potential is in fine shape to return for her final campaign in tomorrow's Mudgway Stakes.