JUST a week after Michelle Payne’s historic Melbourne Cup win, harness racing’s “Queen”, Kerryn Manning, created history of her own.
Manning, who had already rewritten most of harness racing’s driving records, became the first female to drive the winner of New Zealand’s biggest race of any code — the NZ Trotting Cup — aboard her own horse, Arden Rooney, in Christchurch on November 9, 2015.
And now Manning is returning to NZ in search of another “first” in her beloved sport.
Saturday marks the 11th year of NZ’s huge Harness Jewels raceday and no Australian-trained horse has been able to win a Jewels’ final so far. The closest was NSW pacer Divisive’s second placing in 2007.
Manning and another Victorian trainer, Nicole Molander, fly the Aussie flag this year at Ashburton with their horses Mr Mojito and One Muscle Hill.
Mr Mojito is $12 with TAB fixed odds in the $NZ150,000 Group 1 4YO Emerald (1609m), while One Muscle Hill is the $6 third favourite in his final, the $NZ100,000 Group 1 2YO Ruby (1609m).
“It’s great to be heading back and I think we’ve got the right horse to give it a shake as well.”
“The barrier draw (gate two) really helps as well. From two you don’t have to make too many decisions,” Manning said.
Mr Mojito started his career in NZ and only joined Manning’s stable at the end of last year.
“I’d barely got him back into training when Merv (Butterworth, owner) told me he’d like to have a crack at the Jewels,” she said. “It’s been a bit of a rush and, ideally, I’d have liked another lead-up race with him, but he’s ready to run a big race.”
Manning’s husband, Grant Campbell, took Mr Mojito across to Auckland last Thursday and, after several aborted flights to Christchurch, they made the trip down south this week.
“Grant’s really pleased with the way he’s settled in worked since he went across,” Manning said. “His work was a bit mixed before his first race for us, but it’s liked that race switched him on and his work has been consistently very good since.”
Mr Mojito was formerly trained by the dominant Mark Purdon/Natalie Rasmussen team and, ironically, it’s their stable which boasts the three main dangers to Manning’s charge on Saturday.
The Purdon/Rasmussen runners are: Heavens Rock ($2.10, gate 14), Waikiki Beach ($2.80, gate six) and Cash N Flow ($4, gate nine).
In Molander’s case with One Muscle Hill, she has adopted the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach and booked Purdon to drive her exciting young trotter.
Purdon and Rasmussen are again the dominant force of Jewels Day with six favourites from the nine Group 1 finals. They are: Elle Mac ($1.35 with TAB, race one); Piccadilly Princess ($1.10, race three); Spanish Armada ($1.55, race four); Spankem ($1.30, race six); Heaven Rocks ($2.10, race eight) and Ultimate Machete ($1.65, race nine).