RACING - Rough Odds on to take the Triple Crown final

As his horse was proudly strutting back to the bird cage, Keith Oddy turned to Craig Ritchie and said: "One more mate, just one more."
Having just watched his horse, Rough Odds, grab a heart-stopping win in the second leg of the Whangarei Racing Club's Stoney Bridge Triple Crown series, Oddy was already wondering if he could steal the decider in three weeks time.
Ritchie, the trainer, was quick to add some substance to Oddy's enthusiasm. Ritchie thinks Rough Odds will win the third in the Triple Crown series, just like he has the first two.
The way Rough Odds got the small but excitable crowd on their feet as he bravely hung on to win by a nose at Ruakaka yesterday, you could hardly blame Oddy for dreaming.
His punt on buying Rough Odds as a weanling, "and paying a fair sum for him too" is paying off, as is the decision by Ritchie to deliberately target the Triple Crown title at Ruakaka this year.
"It feels pretty good, we won the first one and thought, `well that went ok', and now we've got this one, just as we planned too, and have one more win to be the first to get the Triple Crown," Oddy said.
A golden prize pool of $30,000 cash is waiting for Oddy if Rough Odds wins the last leg of the series, the Ocean Seafoods Northland Breeders Stakes on July 12.
He has already banked $25,000 in bonus monies after yesterday's victory as Rough Odds now has an unassailable lead in the Triple Crown points series.
It has set up the perfect finish to the series, which has added interest to the Whangarei Racing Club's winter racing programme. More trainers are starting to see the value in using Ruakaka as a winter base. Boosting stake monies on offer has only helped lift the profile further.
Ritchie said he and Oddy had decided last year to target Rough Odds to challenge for Triple Crown honours. Ritchie, who is based in Pukekohe, has also become a Ruakaka convert.
"The conditions up here are great at this time of year and look, the money is great," Ritchie said pointing at his race book.
Rough Odds lead from the start, held a two length lead running off the front as they rounded for home, and then hung on as outsider Joystep came charging down the outside to challenge with Silk Spur.
Oddy was a picture of restraint as the field charged down the straight, but punched the air in joy when his horse got his nose past the line first.
It was a strange day at Ruakaka though, as Rough Odds was one of the few favourites to perform. The only other was Seeking The Silver in the Kamo Club 2100-metre, who burned off the expected challenge from Showileo well before the home turn.
Even Sunstrike, the so called `blue-blood' offspring of champions Sunline and Rock Of Gibraltar, failed miserably in the Ag & Earth 1400-metre race. Sunstrike finished a disappointing last after being eased off 400-metres from the line.
Not that any of this worried Oddy, the New Zealand owner of the Aussie Butcher retail franchise.
"The Breeder's Stakes will be tough to win, but I reckon we have the horse to do it," Oddy said.