KEY POINTS:
Cambridge trainer Ross Elliot only has three horses in his racing team right now.
Two of those nearly everyone has heard of, namely Rotorua Challenge Plate winner Zilzie and Blimey O'Reilly who stormed into Mercedes Derby calculations with his impressive Waikato Guineas win 11 days ago.
The third
Elliot runner is about as unknown as it gets.
Unheralded Montjeu filly Mon Jolie makes her raceday debut over 1550m at Rotorua today; her only claim to fame so far a second at a qualifying trial at Cambridge last November.
Yet, there she is still amongst the nominations for the $300,000 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham, just a little over a month away.
Elliot, though, isn't talking up a Valentines' Day gift for punters in Mon Jolie's make-or-break Oaks chance today.
"She's ready to go to the races, but we're more or less lining her up to see what we've got," says Elliot, eager to play down any talk of an Oaks' dark-horse.
"Because she's by Montjeu, it was the owners' prerogative to keep her in the Oaks, but she is only a little thing."
Still, Elliot has worked miracles before and he hasn't totally written off hope of tackling Veloce Bella and Co. with the TAB's early $101 fixed odds chance on March 17.
"If she won tomorrow [Wednesday] we'd run her over ground in her next start and carry on from there," he said. "She is very forward, but she'd have to win and we'd see what happens."
Either way, Elliot could still be represented at Trentham next month with 2-year-old debutante Martini Red.
The exciting Red Ransom filly confirmed her black booker status with another impressive trials win in a slick time at Pukekohe yesterday.
Meanwhile, Elliot has confirmed that Blimey O'Reilly is a starter in the Championship Stakes (2100m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.
Elliot had been considering entering the O'Reilly gelding in the $700,000 Derby on March 3 without another race.
But the horse's wayward fourth over 1600m at Ellerslie on December 30 kept coming back to haunt him.
"Fitness wise it doesn't really worry me if he missed it [the Championship Stakes] but I'd like him to have one more run at Auckland for the experience," said Elliot.
"He should have won his last race there but he shied at the big screen."
Blimey O'Reilly has been the massive Derby shortener with TAB bookies in recent weeks.
Elliot admits he backed the horse at $81 before his Ellerslie fourth three starts back.
The gelding is now on the fourth line of fixed odds betting at just $12.
Only Magic Cape at $4, Stolen Thunder ($8) and Sydney-raider Redoubte's Dancer ($9), who arrived earlier this week, are favoured more.
"If we get there I won't be backing him again on the day," said Elliot.
"I'll just be enjoying the ride.
"I know I've already got him at four or five times what he'll pay on the tote."