Yaldhurst trainer Michael Pitman is immensely proud of his season, even if he expects his nine-win lead in the national trainers' premiership to evaporate before the end of July.
His rival Lisa Latta - who has stables at Awapuni and Riccarton - was sitting on 72 wins going into yesterday's Egmont races at Hawera, but could not claw back the margin with any of her nine runners and still sits nine adrift of Pitman.
After Oamaru's meeting for Thursday was abandoned yesterday, Pitman now has a maximum of eight South Island meetings to add to his winning tally of 81. The weather is not helping Pitman's quest to hold on to his lead, with Oamaru's abandonment and Riccarton's meeting on Saturday being under some doubt.
''We have a very small racing team - about 14 to 16 horses total [for the rest of the season],'' Pitman said.
''[Latta has] probably had 40 different horses lining up in the last three days.
''If she wins a race a day, she'll end up beating me by four wins now.
Pitman's guess was not far off, as Latta had 32 horses line up between Wanganui last Thursday and Hawera yesterday.
The remarkable statistic is the lack of a stakes win in Pitman's record this season, which makes his 81 victories to date all the more impressive.
''We've had a huge season for the horses we've had. We haven't had a stakes winner this season, because we haven't had horses that were good enough,'' he said.
''We've won a lot of races with average horses.''
Pitman has not waved the white flag just yet but he is reliant on a few meetings getting off the ground and the weather playing its part, particularly for the likes of Ruby Red, who has won her last two races on dead tracks.
''She'll go to Waimate if it's a good track and I've got a nice team in at Riccarton if it runs - and I really hope they do because I've got horses in that will love it wet.''
Pitman has won the national premiership twice - in the 2007-08 season and in the 2010-11 season, when he reached a century of wins, picking up 105. He would certainly welcome another title, but has his owners in mind.
''It's all about trying to optimise stake money. Even when I've won the premiership before, each time I've won races at the Grand National carnival [in August] because the money is three or four times better.
''It's not the be-all and end-all, but I'd love to win it. Whether I can or not, it's a 50/50 call.''
