Princess Kereru in April 2019. Photo / Trish Dunell
Ken Kelso isn't enamoured with the prospect of running Princess Kereru on a heavy track at Rotorua today but he's even less hung up on the alternatives.
The Matamata trainer will saddle Pins six-year-old mare Princess Kereru in the Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes (1215m), the weight-for-age conditions of the race making
it an attractive first-up assignment for the Group One performer.
However, the prevailing heavy track conditions aren't pleasing the trainer. "We're very happy with her going into it but concerned with the track," said Kelso, who trains in partnership with his wife Bev.
"I'd like to run. She's very hard to place because she's rated 101 so she'd have to cop a bit of weight in a handicap."
Upcoming open sprints at Pukekohe and Te Rapa are alternative options for Princess Kereru should track conditions force her trainers' hand but both are handicaps which would likely result with her allotted 60kg rather than the 57kg she carries under weight-for-age at Rotorua.
