Racing: Three shots for trainer at Tauranga

Sun Ruler (right) did a great job to pick up his stablemate Sunstrike (left) at Te Rapa last start. Photo / Supplied

Stephen McKee will be going to Tauranga today with confidence over Sun Ruler, Sunstrike and Benabar.

Benabar is one of the north's most progressive young horses and he's likely to prove that in Race 5 at Tauranga this afternoon.

In two starts this preparation Benabar finished strongly to be second to Tip The Wink then a nice second to talented Dasoudi at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

The compact field here will suit Benabar's strong finishing style and he will be very hard to handle.

Stablemate Sunstrike (No7, R7) - out of champion mare Sunline - is going to be similarly difficult to topple. Last start Sunstrike was run down in the last stride by her younger half brother Sun Ruler at Te Rapa.

There were nearly two lengths back to Siem Reap in third, suggesting that without the highly promising Sun Ruler to contend with this time Sunstrike can score a deserved win.

With Toni McMullen in the saddle, Sunstrike will go around with just 51.5kg on her back.

Sun Ruler (No7, R3) did a great job to pick up his stablemate at Te Rapa last start when that looked very unlikely to happen at the 200m.

He jumps from R70 to R90 today, but has just 53kg to help his cause.

Tampiko (No5) beat a good field at Ellerslie last week and a repeat effort would make her the one to beat.

Corsage (No2, R1) was only 3.1 lengths from Katie Lee in fourth place in the 2000 Guineas at Riccarton, good form for today's race. She has never enjoyed the greatest of luck and her record would be better if she had. Miss Sharapova (No3) is very smart.

Race 2 looks good for a small field, but it could be a trap for punting. Difficult to see how you can get value with just five runners. Run Like Al (No1) has been incredible lately and has only four runners to negotiate. That same scenario is going to suit Veloce Bella (No4), who has been getting back and running on in big fields. It has landed her with a "gunner" title, but she's a lot better than that. She will get her chance this time.

The unraced maidens in Made My Point (No4, R4) and Kingston Saba (No6) are the interesting runners in the maiden. Both have caught the eye and should not be left out of all multiple bets. There does not look to be a good thing in the last, but Cosmic Heights (No1, R8) makes a fair bit of appeal to break through for a first win. Two starts back he finished third to Santipo and Kullu and last start he did work early before leading mid-race and being caught late. This gives him a great chance.