Steve Anderton could not be happier with The Solitaire going into the $70,000 listed South Island Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton tomorrow - and the weights have come up trumps, too.
The Solitaire was hard to miss earlier this month, flashing into second behind Ridley over the same distance at Wingatui, and she has done nothing since then to put trainer Anderton off heading to Riccarton.
''I was really thrilled with the run, and she had a good blow,'' he said.
''She'll only improve with the run and she's trained on well.''
The presence of 2011 Coupland's Mile winner Platinum Princess has kept The Solitaire relatively low in the weights. The mile win still counts against Platinum Princess when it comes to the weights scale and penalties, so the Lisa Latta-trained mare will carry 58kg.
By comparison, the 102-rated The Solitaire, who sits seven rating points above Platinum Princess, will carry 55.5kg, only 0.5kg more than the rest of the field, whose ratings are as low as 70 in the case of Bremusa.
The O'Reilly mare has drawn the outside gate of 13, but Anderton hopes jockey Chris Johnson will find a spot in the midfield shortly after the start.
One of The Solitaire's rivals is Sucre, trained by Sean Bellew, who will be hoping for some cut in the track.
''Anything dead (4) or worse and she'll be a very competitive horse,'' Bellew said.
