Racing: Don't rule out Rasa Lila upset

GAME: Co-trainer Julia Ritchie loves the thought of Rasa Lila and Kawi next to each other today. PHOTO/FILE

ASK the racing savvy - or even the great unwashed - who will win today's group one Windsor Park Plate in Hastings and they'll tell you Kawi and Leith Innes.

Therein lies the beauty of any sport. It's not when the predictable happens that makes an event memorable but when the unscripted unfolds.

Husband-and-wife co-trainers Julia Ritchie and Steven Ramsay will wholeheartedly agree the Allan Sharrock-trained 6-year-old gelding is class but they can be excused for reaching out for the blinkers when it comes to their entry, Rasa Lila, in the second leg of the Bostock New Zealand Spring Racing Carnival's feature race at 4.26pm.

"We're not sure she'll even feature here but we have to give him a go because we can't win by sitting here in our paddock," says Ritchie from their Maungatautari property between Cambridge and Matamata before the $200,000 premier race.

The irony is Innes rode Rasa Lila but the jockey is amicably with Sharrock and Kawi.

Enter Sydney-based Kiwi rider Jason Collett who will be in the saddle of the 6-year-old Darci Brahma mare.

Cast your eye down the barrier draws of the weight-for-age 1600m field of 13 and you'll find Kawi jumps out of No 9 and Rasa Lila No 10.

"They are next to each other so she may end up following Kawi," says Ritchie with a chuckle, revealing Rasa Lila also has a tendency to sit back and draw out wide.

The 41-year-old accepts Innes, an astute jockey, has inside knowledge on what makes their mare tick but doesn't believe that overly creates a handicap for Collett.

"Jason would have studied all of her races ... so once the gates open he'll have to work things out, depending on how she jumps out and all those sorts of things," says Ritchie, a retired jockey who still does track work with Ramsay on their horses, if the need arises.

Patience is a virtue on Rasa Lila and Ritchie reckons a calm-and-collected Collett has oodles of that.

"There are so many variables that you can't have one game plan so he'll have to be pretty open minded."

So is there an upset on the card?

"Upset? Me? I won't be," she says in a jocular vein.

WILD CARD: Rasa Lila (above) will jump out of the gate next to favourite Kawi during the Windsor Park Plate in Hastings today. PHOTO/RACE IMAGES

Seriously, though, Ritchie is mindful the Kawi camp will be extremely bullish about their chances of following up on the Makfi Challenge Stakes Daffodil Raceday victory in leg one of the Bay carnival on August 27.

Rasal Lila, who is already nominated for the final leg of the group one $250,000 Livamol Classic over 2040m here, is a fresh entry today.

She shot to second favourite in the bookies' listings even before a jockey was confirmed.

The bay mare has group 2 and 3 wins in 26 career starts, having earned $261,000 to date.

"When I first got her a couple of years ago she was quite difficult and stressed out.

"A lot of things worried her and she had quite a few quirks," says Ritchie.

Rasa Lila, who was standoffish, is still a bit perky but is now a happy horse and good natured.

"She now loves to be fussed over and has a great personality."

The horse is proven over myriad tracks - dead and good - and wins anywhere from 1600m to 2000-plus distances.

However, Ritchie says they have come to the conclusion she's not a "grinding stayer".

When it comes to training, Ritchie and Ramsay have no problems finding middle ground.

The couple, who have two children, Ella, 9, and Zac, 2, are into their sixth season of collaboration as equine mentors.

They snapped up the opportunity, when breeder/owner Sir Peter Vela offered, to take the reins from trainer Mark Walker who left for Singapore.

"I didn't really want to be a trainer," says the woman who enjoyed riding, had a few falls and believes "I wasn't that great".

"I gave up [riding] when I had children but I did my apprenticeship," says Ritchie, who spent six years plying her trade in Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast as well as Japan, engaging predominantly in track work.

No doubt the prospect of travelling appealed.

The daughter of the late Gary Ritchie and granddaughter of the late Merv Ritchie and niece of trainer Frank Ritchie was under no illusions about the demands of the industry.

"It's [training] something I knew. I watched how hard it was for my dad," she says.

That hasn't changed although she thoroughly enjoys where she is and what she is doing with Ramsay.

"It's pretty tough but it's good to be able to bounce ideas off each other."

Ritchie is "very pedantic and particular" about her horses but hastens to add, Ramsay, is arduous in his all-encompassing duties.

"He's a very talented horseman. He does everything from driving the truck and has worked with different trainers overseas."

The couple consider their experience as former jockeys essential to their ability to train although they have other staff who do track work.

"It's a main advantage to ride them and know how they are going. I can pick little things that maybe someone else doesn't so for me it's big, obviously."

On the flip side, she says they also carry the lion's share of the burden of responsibility on the horses' performance.

So who has the say when push comes to shove?

"With Rasa Lila I have the say because I do everything with her just about every day.

"Oh and he'd say the same," Ritchie says with a laugh.