James Dean will take centre stage as one of the main acts in the Kurow Cup in which he shoots for four wins on end.
While it is not an easy task to string such a sequence of victories together, what helps the pacer’s chance of extending his streak is that he is getting better with each win he notches.
"He is. He only had one trial before he went to Oamaru and ran third and then he has just kept getting better from there," O’Reilly said.
Before his return and his hat-trick of wins the horse had five months away from the races after he had a bone chip removed from near a front fetlock. Naturally, the operation was not what a trainer wants to face with a smart up-and-coming pacer, but James Dean has returned in such good stead the injury layoff has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
"He is really well at the moment," O’Reilly said.
Just how far his continued improvement will take James Dean will be measured when the horse competes in the New Zealand Cup carnival, O’Reilly said.
While his fitness has been on the improve, one thing that has not needed to get better is the horse’s standing start manners, which have been exemplary in seven of the 10 starts James Dean has had from behind the tapes.
"He has got great manners. He has always been like that."
In the latest of those runs, James Dean won and beat Kurow Cup rival Bite The Bullet who ran third when the pair raced at Addington earlier this month.
What Bite The Bullet showed just three days after that defeat was a liking for the Oamaru track, where he was sensational in coming from last on a 55.7sec last 800m to win.
Although she reeled off a slower 58.7sec last 800m on the same track on Wednesday, classy racemare New Years Jay signalled she was nearing her best by downing race rival Playboy Prince in a trial win from the back mark of 40m.
She will be in new trainer Graeme Anderson’s colours, but punters will be greeted with the familiar sight of Jonny Cox, who has driven the mare in seven of her eight wins, in the sulky.
Leo O’Reilly lines up another horse on the improve tomorrow in former nine-win pacer-turned-trotter Jerry Garcia.
The 8yr-old gained his first squaregaiting win at Addington earlier this month after a string of consistent performances. With the horse getting more and more solid in his new gait, O’Reilly expects the horse to handle the step out of maiden company into higher grades.
In tomorrow’s feature trot, Blazing Under Fire, who finished the last racing season in fine style with two wins and a narrow Forbury Park defeat by the talented Poppymalda, returns to racing. The 5yr-old takes on a 12-horse line-up including good chances Soney Beatt, Sundons Flyer and Pyramid Magic.
- Jonny Turner
• Additional information for meetings today. —
M2 Waikato RC
Scratching
Race 1: Sacred Rebel.Weather, fine; track, slow; rail, out 3m.
M4 Wairarapa RC
Weather, fine; track, heavy11; rail, true.
