Another chance for Her Greatest tomorrow

Press, 14 May 1979, Page 22

Another chance for Her Greatest tomorrow

Racing and trotting

By

J. J. BOYLE

Her Greatest, winner of her last five races, will attempt to lengthen that impressive sequence in the Canterbury Jockey Club’s May Handicap tomorrow if the Riccarton track does not become heavy.

She successfully bridged the gap to “open” company! in the Amberley Cup at Ra-! ngiora on Saturday, and heri Clinton owner-trainer, Mr! Cliff McLachlan, said yester- 1 day that his strong Hermes i mare came through the race! to his complete satisfaction. . “She lost a bit of skin on! that tight comer at the topi of the straight, but ate up 1 on Saturday night, and if there is no rain by race day) she should find Riccarton! more to her liking than the i R a n g i o r a track,” M i said yesterday. 1 Her Greatest, which was! unbeaten in three starts ati Riccarton at Easter, has been rehandicapped 2kg to; 54.5 for her Amberley Cup victory. She is now one kilo] below Riccarten’s Star! Order, which ran her to half 1 length on Saturday. The turning point of Sat- ' nrday*s race came, perhaps.! when Star Order was held ; up for a few strides on the I home turn. Earlier, his vet-1 tran rider Eddie Low. had!

gambled on a rails run, and I the combination made great ! progress on the inside until | they were closed out for a vital second close to home. I Her Greatest and Star Order were two of the besti backed runners and Jim Collett said the winner had ! triumphed more on class and i strength than on ability on a ! track cutting out after rain. Prodigal improved a tidy record on Canterbury | courses finishing doggedly I for third. : He will again oppose Her I Greatest and Star Order in I the Canterbury Jockey | Club’s May Handicap tomorrow, and this time he should not be forced wide, as he I was on Saturday. I Jim Collett, w'ho is riding i at the Winton meeting today, will return tomorrow Ito ride Her Greatest. But it was not certain yesterday if Eddie Low would again be able to ride Star Order. | Deep Mystery will be another strong runner for the i south in the first leg of to-

I morrow’s T.A.B. double if he t races with the dash that 1 characterised his winning i performance in the highweight at the Amberley r meeting. Until last season he was - raced by Mr Derrick Gould I from Jim Tomkinson’s I stable, but was purchased by i Mrs M. P. Jones and Mr Peter Smellie, who train the I Agricola gelding at Inj vercargill. i Deep Mystery did not win for this combination until • Saturday, but he recorded i placed performances, ini eluding two fourths at the - last Grand National meeting. BEST DISTANCE Spy Force could not strike ; a blow at the brilliant Greek ; Magic at the end of 1200 m ' in the second leg of the Amt berley T.A.B. double, but he f finished purposefully for his > second, and will be back to his best distance of 1400 m • in the Suburban Handicap at > Riccarton tomorrow. Spy Force will not have

Greek Magic in opposition this time. The Tuahiwi trainer Ray Harris, plans to keep Mr David Allin’s speedster fresh for another North Island campaign, a 1200 m handicap at Rotorua later this month if the weight is “acceptable” or a valuable weight-for-age race at Tauranga in June. Greek Magic failed to strike form when trained in Cambridge by Laurie Laxon last spring, but the ease and character of his win on Saturday — he came home in splendid isolation four and a half lengths on top — did much to atone for earlier disappointments. Spy Force would have got closer to Greek Magic in Saturday's race only for being held up behind Greek Magic’s stablemate, Influential, near the home turn.

When Ron McCann got Spy Force into the clear the second favourite made good headway, but by that time Greek Magic had scurried away with the race safely won. Spy Force beat Colfix by a length for second on Saturday, and should beat her again over more ground in the Suburban Handicap at Riccarton tomorrow.