Racing: All the right Atire, now bring on a win

Paul Moroney

Paul Moroney has rarely felt more pressure before a midweek $6000 maiden event than the 2.52pm at Te Rapa today.

Ballymore's stable manager and yearling sales' expert has been telling owners Alan and Christine Abel that Lady Atire is group-race material since paying $90,000 for her at Karaka two years ago.

She has just 2100m today to prove that moment will come in the $300,000 New Zealand Oaks on March 18.

"This is definitely crunch time for Lady Atire to perform," said Moroney.

"She will have to win this race just to make it into the Oaks' field."

Moroney also spent $52,000 of the Abel's money on Almutawakel maiden three-year-old Adelariva, who has her last shot at qualifying for Oaks glory at Ellerslie on Saturday.

"The Abels stood down from buying at Karaka this year to see if one of these fillies could put their hand up," said Moroney.

"The pressure is now on us to make sure one of these two delivers."

The Abels, whose previous Ballymore success stories include Katana, Penny Gem, Kapiston and Galroof, have already watched their fillies by Volksraad and Thunder Gulch fall off the stable's Oaks roster.

But Moroney remains confident that Lady Atire and Adelariva, the only two Michael Moroney and Andrew Scott-trained fillies still with Trentham aspirations, both deserve a place in the group one classic next month.

"We believe that both fillies will eventually get to group class," said Moroney.

"The only question now is whether the Oaks has come up a little too soon for them."

Lady Atire, a Pentire filly with staying blood to burn on her dam Lady Acumen's side, has a horror draw to overcome to get there today.

But rider Michael Coleman always planned to settle back and the return of blinkers should switch her on enough for a winning sprint from the final corner.

Moroney says to overlook her last two misses as win favourite; she struck an off-track at Hastings two starts ago and rider Lisa Cropp felt she was never handling the right-hand way round at Ellerslie.

Lady Atire was rated a $40 Oaks chance on the TAB's fixed-odds market yesterday, with Adelariva a $125 hope.

Meanwhile, Moroney rates Dahling a good each way prospect to upset the form runners in the opening race today.

The Generous filly was considered a leading Oaks chance by the stable before her last-start failure at Te Rapa on January 18. "We've freshened her and changed her training slightly - she should be hard to beat."