By Mike Dillon
Lining unbeaten filly Catamarca up in Saturday's San Domenico Stakes at Randwick is like going home for trainer Stephen Autridge.
Also for part owner Reg Durrant.
Autridge spent five years honing his considerable horse skills in Sydney between 1987 and 1992.
Durrant, a Rotorua businessman, spent a greater number of years relieving Australian bookmakers of their money on the punt.
"I like Australians," said Durrant as he prepared to fly to Sydney to watch his filly race, "but what a great pastime it is taking them on at anything, football, racing, darts, anything at all. I love it."
Bookies didn't like the game quite so much when Durrant plucked from them more money than you could count when his mare Analight won the 1975 Caulfield Cup.
But Saturday might be the wrong time to punt Catamarca, despite the fact she's broken track records and has never looked like getting beaten.
Autridge would love to win the race, but accepts it is really a fitness tuner for the $A150,000 Silver Shadow Stakes at Warwick Farm on August 21, first of the four legs of the $A800,000 Princess Series..
The San Domenico is for colts and fillies, while Catamarca will face only fillies in the Princess Series.
In contrast to the New Zealand scenario of last season, the class of the Australian fillies is regarded to on average be several lengths off the colts and geldings.
Catamarca will face the horse many regard as the hottest Australian 3-year-old, Magic Millions winner Testa Rossa.
"There are three or four good colts engaged this week," said Autridge from Sydney yesterday.
"The Golden Slipper runner-up Aligned is running and they're dubbing it a mini Golden Slipper."
Autridge is not kidding himself how tough this job is.
"If she can finish not too far from the colts and beat home most of the fillies, I'll be happy," he said.
"That would set her up beautifully for the first race in the series."
Opie Bosson leaves for Sydney after riding at Hastings today to take the Catamarca mount and is likely to remain in Australia until the end of the Princess Series on October 2.
Autridge has not won a race in Sydney since he left there in 1992, spending a couple of years training on his own account following three years as foreman for the powerful Paul Sutherland stable.
"But my only starters have been Few Are Chosen, who finished second in the Tulloch Stakes before missing a place in the Derby and Perfect World, who ran a couple of nice races."
A nice race will do Autridge again on Saturday, after which the game gets serious.
Horse Racing: Catamarca to clash with colts
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