War of queens will be at Addington

Expect the Carabella-Bettor Cover Lover war to get just that little bit nastier at Addington tonight.

Because Carabella's trainer Brendon Hill is adamant his mare will not be bullied by Bettor Cover Lover, who has beaten her the last two times the pair have met.

The scratching of De Lovely has turned tonight's 1950m group two into a classic head-to-head battle and an extension of one of the most exciting rivalries in all of racing.

Carabella had the better of the pairs clashes last season but Bettor Cover Lover produced a legendary return from a life-threatening injury to down her arch rival in the $100,000 Queen Of Hearts at Alexandra Park five weeks ago.

Having trialled brilliantly at Addington on Monday, Bettor Cover Lover appears to have the momentum and with driver Brent Mangos bursting with confidence she seems certain to charge off the gate looking for the lead.

And Hill is adamant he doesn't want that to happen.

"We have drawn inside Bettor Cover Lover and I think we have to use that advantage," he said.

"I don't usually tell Ricky (May, driver) how to drive her but if we can hold her at the start then I want to stay in front of her.

"If we give her the lead and trail then we have to run past her to win.

"Whereas if we park her out then she has to run past us to win. If she is good enough to do that then she will be the better horse on the night."

That attitude - if May buys into it - is both refreshingly aggressive and incredibly logical and should make Carabella the better bet.

She was slightly disappointing by her Horse of the Year standards when beaten in the Queen of Hearts but has still only tasted defeat twice in 17 starts, both times to Bettor Cover Lover.

"I wasn't that disappointed by that loss because I think we were left a sitting duck at the top of the straight and probably by going 2:44 (2200m) we brought Bettor Cover Lover into the race.

"But this week I'd like to see Ricky be aggressive and make her beat us, rather than handing anything to her."

While Carabella hasn't trialled since her defeat last month she worked well last Saturday and even better on Wednesday.

"Her work on Wednesday was super and she goes well fresh so she will be ready."

She will need to be as Bettor Cover Lover was special winning last start and if she gets a head of steam up out of the gate she will be incredibly hard to catch. And Mangos is a driver who rarely takes no for an answer, so if he and May lock horns the race could be a thriller.

Bettor Cover Lover's near-death experience from a travel accident last season may have had a silver lining in that she looks to have developed into a beast during her eight months away from racing, whereas Carabella looks only a slightly bigger version of the brave little filly who was so wonderful last season.

One thing is for sure, if Bettor Cover Lover wins again tonight to square the pair's personal battles at three-all, she will have all the momentum heading into the remainder of the season.

Meanwhile, Hill says there are no plans to retire $3.4 million earner Monkey King, even though he has been racing lengths below his best.

Hill will give the two-time New Zealand Cup winner a solid hitout at home on Saturday before trialling next week and hopefully starting in the Summer Cup at Addington on February 4.

"He is still being set for the Auckland Cup and retirement isn't on the radar at the moment."